Ilaina & Wesley
IlainaSiegel
&WesleyGamble
September192025
Milton, DE
Our Story
How We Met
Fairytales never come easy, but for a few, they arrive as if granted by a shooting star. Despite many hardships in the treacherous world of online dating, our paths collided. After days and weeks of generic swiping left and right, we eventually piqued each other’s interest and matched. We messaged for a while, only for the beloved, Lani, to turn off her account, subsequently deleting our match. Forever lost to the void, we began swiping again, as if trekking through a cold winter. Then, the hero of our story, Wes, found his true match once more. After swiping right, he was matched again, and the conversation began as if it had never stopped, both excited to hear from one another. However, one more hardship followed. A vacation separated the beloved from her phone, causing the hero to feel ignored, with no chance at redemption. With no hope in sight, the hero reached out one last time, successfully catching the beloved's interest, and she responded. A date was now scheduled. The two would meet face to face for the first time.
The day of the meeting arrived, and both parties were nervous. The hero came armed with a slice of cake and a cookie, while the beloved wielded her beauty as both weapon and shield, using her words as if they were magic from a book. Quickly, the conversation flowed, and the hero fell under her spell. The beloved embraced his words. The two were gracefully falling for each other. Their stories were endless, and even though the sun was up at the start of their conversation, it quickly set upon the two lovers. While time seemed to stand still for them, the planets continued to move, aligning for them on this day.
Before parting, the two lovers, already craving their next meeting, decided to meet again days later, becoming inseparable from that moment on.
The Proposal
The two lovers traversed as one since the day of their first meeting, though this term had yet to ring true. Knowing his true feelings for the beloved, our Hero set out for his final quest alone. He marched onward from land to land in search of the one ring that would bring his beloved to him as one. He finally found the emerald beacon to shine his way forward to his beloved's heart. Through months of planning, secrecy, and communication between himself and her best friend, the two decided to strike the final question at the Renaissance faire. The hero gathered his companions and set forth the plan to ask her to share his name and create the final bond that would tie their fates together, forever intertwined.
Secrecy covered the morning of. Many are aware but the one who would want to know the most is our beloved. Doned in their best Renaissance attire, they traveled to Pennsylvania. Meeting up with friends and family, they attended the exhibition of falcons, whispers rumbling through all the excitement in the air, preparing for when the hero would ask the final question. At last, when the event was said and done, the two went to the archery range where a bet would be made. Should the beloved make three shots, the hero would buy her a drink, though that would not be the true reward. But one final hurdle stood in the hero's way. Before he could finish saying the bet, our beloved already made the three shots. There he stood bewildered, mouth agape, and reminded of the exact reason he wanted to ask the question. No matter what happens, she never fails to surprise him. He asked the question " Will you marry me?" to which the blushing beloved stood silent, only one response escaping her lips: "Yes." The two embraced, while cheers erupted all around them from friends, family, and strangers. All of which excited to see what the future would unfold...