Love and Marriage

Kate and I at Lake Como this summer.

I don’t often talk about my personal life on this site, but sometimes the most personal things are the things most worth writing about.

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of going to Kibwé and Crystal’s wedding. Throughout the day, Kibwé was giddy like a school boy and Crystal couldn’t have had a bigger smile behind her veil. Not only are they best friends (and the furthest throwing hammer throwing couple in the history of the world), they are also deeply in love and it showed. But, I have to admit, I was quite distracted the whole time.

Nearly two years ago, I met Kate, the love of my own life. Although we attended law school together, we barely knew each other when we started to date. Nevertheless, things took off quickly. Despite my frequent absences and trips to Canada and Europe, we only grew closer and more in love. As she sat with me at the wedding, I couldn’t help but imagine her at our own wedding. I couldn’t help thinking about it since I had just proposed to her minutes before the ceremony.

As we were getting ready for the wedding, I was rummaging through my suitcase looking for my things when I just happened to discover decorative artisan chocolate box that I had brought with me from Zurich and “forgotten” about. I kindly offered a piece to Kate, which she surprisingly declined. After trying to force a piece upon her, I opened the chocolate box to unveil a smaller jewelry box inside. Then I got on one knee, showed her the ring it held and proposed, to which she replied … “are you serious?” Yep, I was a bit surprised by that answer too, but that’s what I get for being sarcastic so much. Thankfully she followed that up with a quick “yes.”

When asking the love of my life to marry me, I knew I had to combine the proposal with one of my two other loves: hammer throwing or chocolate. I actually had a few ideas involving the hammer throw courtesy of my sister and Zack, but everyone knows that chocolate is slightly more romantic. Combined with a sparkly little ring from Ben Bridge, the plan came together quickly. Now I can look forward to a wedding of my own.

Before I finish, I’d like to thank Marc Bridge, who was a big help for me behind the scenes. I studied with Marc in law school and he was the first person I thought to turn to after feeling a little overwhelmed looking at jewelry on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich. He answered all of my questions and even came down to the store to provide some advice, show me a few rings, and eventually win over a new loyal customer. I was on a short timeline since I’m heading back to Zurich on Sunday and he helped everything come together with a ring that Kate can’t keep her eyes off of.