VOWS
Chase’s Vows to Ian
What does marriage mean to us?
Over the years, we’ve asked ourselves:
Is it a social construct?
A legal norm?
I think, it’s seeing and celebrating our love.
More than anything, a testament to all we’ve built.
A celebration of a love that endures,
A love that always will,
A love that you can’t break,
But a love that does surrender.
A quiet promise to keep showing up,
An honor to all the ways we’ve stood by each other,
And to continue to choose each other, time and time again.
Our love is the steady, warm comfort of true understanding. A soft but palpable presence.
Like an afterglow,
As close as breath—
Always there, always right next to me,
Always where you are.
It’s a love that’s gentle but deep,
Firmly rooted but wildly free,
Free to blossom bloom and transform.
Our love is a promise to grow,
To bring our very best to each other,
To rise to each and very occasion,
To show up, to try, and to try again.
Through life’s uncertain paths,
Our love is devotion,
A never ending return to solace.
No matter where we are,
No matter where we go,
Freedom is never lost,
It’s something we carry together.
Today, I make this promise to you:
If I ever feel the need to run,
If I ever feel the need to escape,
I will only escape with you.
Our love and connection isn’t self-serving;
It’s complete in its selflessness,
As steady as the light of day—clear, honest, and unwavering,
So brilliant, it makes me shiver.
It’s both admitting, You were right,
And its knowing, all along, I was never misunderstood.
Our love is bigger than you or me,
It’s a commitment to something beyond,
To the life we create, live, breathe, and share.
Now we do what we’ve always done,
Just as we will each day that follows,
Because as much as we have created,
There is still so much more love to make.
But today, we pause, we celebrate—
We bask in our love, as when the sun comes shining through,
And we carry that light and love forward,
Today, tomorrow, forever, and a day,
I’m yours.
Ian’s Vows to Chase
Chase,
The man who is my rock, my partner in crime, my confidant,
The one who knows me better than anyone else,
The one who is truly my person—
A man I never even dreamt could exist.
It’s been a long and beautiful road that brought us here—
With every step along the way feeling like home.
From two young college boys falling hopelessly in love,
To a partnership I can only describe as —
The truest definition of soulmates.
The challenges we’ve faced have only deepened our bond,
And each one has led me closer to knowing you’re my forever.
Standing here with you feels right,
In a way nothing else ever could,
This commitment is simply the next chapter,
In a story I know was meant to be ours.
Whatever the world brings our way,
I’ll be by your side:
To lift you,
To cry with you,
To celebrate life with you.
I promise to stand beside you in all things,
To be your strength when you need it,
Your peace when life feels heavy,
And your joy when we find life’s beauty.
My heart is yours,
From now until the end of our days.
Chase, my love—
You are my brighter days,
And together,
I know our brightest days are yet to come,
Here’s to our next chapter and the many still unwritten.