Waterfront brewery elopement at The Piermont in Babylon, New York

“Matthew and I met in September 2014 at a mutual friend’s housewarming party. It was a steady but really wonderful evolution over those first few months from dating to taking a small trip together to merging friend groups to eventually moving in together.

In July 2018, while vacationing in the Caribbean, Matt presented me with a crossword puzzle. Some of the boxes had bold squares around them and the clues were all relevant to our relationship, inside jokes and memories we often talked about. Realizing quickly that it was the most thoughtful and creative marriage proposal, I simply uttered, ‘Dammit! I wanted to ask you!’

Of course, I then told him yes, and he obliged me on my request to propose back.

Fast forward a couple of weeks to what may very well have been the hottest day of the summer. While standing under the arch in New York City’s Washington Square Park, I got down on one knee and asked Matthew to marry me.

One of the many special moments of our wedding we bring up from time to time actually happened as we processed up the aisle at the start of our ceremony. We turned the corner, hand-in-hand, and completely unprompted, our guests began clapping. It might have been a mere golf clap, but it was like having 250 cheerleaders sending us off into our marriage all at once. Neither of us knows who started it, or why it happened, but it really set a beautiful tone for the event.” —from William, one half of the couple

William Travers writes regularly for Equally Wed; you can read his articles here.