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Caleb and I met in 2017 at UW-Milwaukee. We were part of the Film, Video, Animation & New Genres undergrad program, and he worked in the Visual Arts & Film Equipment Room. During one long wait to return an audio recorder, I heard the whimsical instrumentation and soft-voiced poetic singing of Sufjan Stevens’ album Illinois through the open door. I had recently become obsessed with Sufjan’s music and was excited to talk to someone about it. We chatted about the album, and when I walked away, I mused, “If I date someone, they should definitely like Sufjan Stevens.”
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
When we ran into each other again a few months later at the Kenilworth building for a film class, we had a longer conversation about shoulder mounts for cameras, bands we like, and family members’ embarrassing posts on Facebook. Afterward, I emailed him to follow up on some of our conversation topics, and I included Minions memes.
A little over six years later, I proposed to him on my birthday in the alley near the Kenilworth building. We planned our wedding for the summer at the Humboldt Park Pavilion. I hosted trivia centered around facts about Caleb and me, awarding the winner the honor of signing our marriage certificate.
Many decorations were informed by my Mexican-American heritage, and love of bold colors and patterns: Mexican blanket-patterned table runners and an ofrenda-style table as a memorial to my mother. Almost all of our decorations were secondhand, sourced from Facebook Marketplace or eBay.
We asked guests to bring snacks and drinks to share instead of gifts, and we hired Pedro’s South American Food as our caterer. Caleb’s ex-boss from the Visual Arts & Film Equipment Room baked a delicious chai cake with vanilla buttercream in the shape of a sea turtle dotted with sunflowers. Over five years of sharing a duplex with our landlords, we had become friends, so their daughters were our flower girls. Of course, I had to walk down the aisle to a Sufjan Stevens song.
Gabriella: I realized Caleb was “the one” when I noticed how he both supported and provided a counterbalance to many of my traits. But it was mainly the fact that he was able to convince my productivity-focused brain that relaxation is nice, too.
Caleb: I knew Gabbi was “the one” pretty quickly after getting to know her. I was so attracted to her sarcastic sense of humor and endless drive. I knew if I could stay around her, I’d keep laughing as we traveled the world and built a life together.
