It was Halloween 2018. Renee and Miro’s first date; A brunch date during the workday. She wore 3D printed horns, a tortoise shell backpack, and a corset. He wore jeans and an Old Navy, black crew neck sweater. He was more charming than Nathan Fillion, and managed to keep his eyes on her face. She laughed at his jokes, but only the funny ones.

In the judgment of two people who go on a lot of first dates, it was a very good first date.

Almost 7 years to the day after that first date, we’re excited to gather the special people in our lives to celebrate our choice to build a life together.

It’s our wedding-ish … or as Miro’s nephew eloquently described it, “your almost wedding.”

That's our elevator pitch. And now, we are pleased to walk through the conversation we most frequently have in response.

We did! We were inspired by the children’s book “ish,” by Peter Reynolds. It’s the story of a young artist frustrated that he can’t create pictures that look the way other people think a chair or a house is supposed to look. With the support of his sister, he learns that he doesn’t have to be confined by the rigid standards of what’s right or technically correct. That individuality and imperfection are equally valid sources of beauty.  When Miro described our party and intentions to his friends the Weavers, Alicia’s response was, “Oh! It’s a wedding-ish!” The book enamored us, and the name stuck.

Many, many detailed discussions of cost/benefit trade-offs, and the optimal methodology to develop a relationship framework that steers us toward continuous personal growth, and a moderate number of spreadsheets. So, as you can imagine, a lot of fun!

Are you really that surprised?

It’s been a fun conversation to figure out how we want to celebrate in a bespoke way that reflects the shared values that anchor our partnership. Here’re the two core objectives we landed on:

1. Celebrate our relationship
2. Do it with people we love

Did we completely deconstruct the idea of a wedding/marriage, explore all the ideas and assumptions for a long time before repackaging it into almost the same thing? Yes. It’s very on brand for us.

When things get hard, we hope that the memory of this day will help give us just a little added reason to show up for each other with kindness and grace, in line with the intentions we set.

In short, we are committing to build a life together and support each other in becoming the best versions of ourselves.

If you want the long form, we have that too! Recalling the Jewish tradition of a wedding contract, called a ketubah, which makes the couples’ commitments explicit, we are sharing Renee & Miro’s Relationship Foundations publically; our living document that describes our relationship and our intentions.

We share this document with you in the same spirit that people display their ketubot in the public areas of their homes: to keep us aligned with our best intentions. We revisit our foundations every year during our relationship check-in to make sure that the document is continuing to grow and evolve just as much as we are. We plan to keep this version updated, so that you can revisit it just as we do, and celebrate our growth and change along with us.