Grace & Karlin

Occupations Grace is a nanny; Karlin is the director of the Brown Memorial Tutoring Program.

Wedding date September 7, 2024

Number of Guests 85

Number of Attendants 12

How You Met Bumble. Grace swiped right on Karlin and over Thanksgiving weekend 2021, Karlin matched with them. In an out of character approach, Karlin messaged first, and they bonded over shared musical interests. On their first date at the Christmas Village, the vibes were . . . alright. Nothing to get too excited about. However, they kept messaging and hanging out through December. After Christmas, Karlin sent a voice note to Grace expressing a lack of romantic connection and a desire to just be friends (who kiss sometimes). Little did they know, this voice note was recorded via a speaker across the room, so Grace heard 5 minutes of garbled speech and definitely not the end part. When they hung out next (just as friends), all the pressure was off and Karlin knew Grace liked them as a person and friend first. From that point, Karlin fell deeply in love with Grace and they rekindled their romantic relationship by the end of January. From then on—inseparable.

The Engagement We actually got engaged twice! Karlin proposed at a Maggie Rogers concert during the song “Anywhere With You,” which had been our favorite song since it was released. Grace had three failed proposals, all foiled by weather, but finally managed to successfully propose at Loch Raven Reservoir, during sunset.

Wedding Design Inspiration We wanted a homey, organic vibe with lots of floral and natural energy. It was really important to us to minimize waste from our wedding, so we attempted to use things that could be used again for different events, or that could be used as decor in our home. We (with the help of friends) crafted many of the decorations for our wedding and thrifted the rest.

What Was Unique and Special About Your Wedding Day There were so many parts of our wedding day that felt unique and special.

• We hand-drew our invitations, which depicted a cardinal (Karlin) and a chickadee (Grace) along with our favorite apple (a Sugarbee).
• At our wedding shower, we had three tables of activities—one of which was writing a piece of advice for us on a strip of fabric and tying it onto a banner. This was decoration for the wedding. We also had a collage table.
• Our nephew, Elwood, was born on the morning of our wedding day (which did mean his parents—Grace’s brother & sister-in-law, couldn’t make it).
• We had no proper officiant (though my sister was ordained), but rather our entire wedding party, all titled People of Honor, encircled our space and read different pieces of the ceremony.
• Our last name, Scudder, was passed down from Karlin’s grandmother to their mother to them. She flew in from Colorado for our wedding and was the first person to introduce us as The Scudder’s after our ceremony.
• We wrote special notes to each guest on their place cards and spent a long time on the seating chart, often splitting couples up so they could connect with other loved ones
• On each table, we had a sugarbee apple (a part of our origin story), a paring knife, and a small cutting board with instructions for each table to share their apple while sharing a story of their connection to the couple.
• Our ‘sweetheart table’ had two empty seats across from us, to which we invited any guests to take a minute during dinner or cocktail hour and come chat with us. To make sure we didn’t end up occupied with one person for too long, we had an hourglass timer that we discretely used.
• On the dancefloor, we had a looped video of Grace & Karlin dancing projected onto the wall so even if we took a break from the floor (which we rarely did), our presence was always there.
• Our venue, Current Space, is both an art gallery and a garden bar. Most of our wedding took place outside in the garden, but we disappeared into the art gallery mid-reception to take a few intimate photos and for Karlin to do an outfit change (into their slip)
• We had a coffee meet and greet the morning after our wedding at a coffee shop around the corner from the venue. Karlin and Grace hung out there for 2 hours, while guests who had stayed in nearby hotels came by to chat and reminisce on the beautiful night we had all shared the evening prior. It was a great way to close out the wedding weekend and give out of town guests a chance to get some more face-to-face time with the couple before heading out!

Favorite Details Karlin made a looping video of us dancing and we projected it onto the wall next to the dance floor. We (with the help of some friends) created a felt banner of our new last name and hung it behind our table. The invitations were drawn by us, we each created a different color palette of the same invitation and then when trying to choose between them, accidentally layered them on top of each other. We immediately realized that when merged together, it had a spark that neither had individually.

Most Unexpected Event On Your Wedding Day It rained off and on almost all afternoon leading up to the ceremony. As we walked down the aisle towards each other, the clouds parted, and the garden was bathed in late summer sun. After a day of grey drizzle, it felt like the sun had come out just for us.

Piece of Advice Our piece of advice is not to get caught up with what is “expected” at a wedding and spend time making sure each decision (and expense!) is reflective of your relationship and community.

CAKE Handle With Care Bakery CATERER Brick n’ Fire Pizza FLORAL DESIGN Hillen Homestead HONEYMOON Acadia National Park INVITATIONS Drawn by Karlin and Grace, printed by Zola LOCATION Current Space MUSIC Playlists created by Grace & Karlin OFFICIANT Addison Scudder PHOTOGRAPHER Golden Night Photography WEDDING OUTFITS Perte D’ego (Grace’s suit), Target (Karlin’s dress), Savers (Karlin’s slip)