CHLOE'S PERSPECTIVE

Our love story began just like I never expected: at the house of a Rabbi.

Jake and I were told it was an act of God's will that we were seated next to each other at this dinner, but we knew it was setup. We were two single Jews in Birmingham, Alabama who weren’t related and didn’t know each other: we were destined to meet.

Typical for us I was fifteen minutes early to dinner, and Jake was twenty minutes late. So late, that the reserved seat next to me kept getting smushed closer and closer to me as the clock continued ticking and ticking on. By the time Jake arrived his chair was basically in my lap, and he was forced to converse with me… whether he wanted to or not. Luckily, we had a lot in common and, at the time, Jake was "training for a triathlon," and I had done a few.

It wasn't until a few weeks later that we met again at my Aunt Melina and Uncle Jon's house for Rosh Hashana. Jake and I sat next to each other again, this time by choice, and continued chatting about what we had in common. We finally exchanged numbers and had a few “triathlon training” swim dates.

While Jake has yet to compete in a triathlon, if it weren't for the effort, we wouldn't have had as many "not date-dates” as we did.

Eventually, after everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) in town knew how much of a crush I had on Jake, the “not date-dates” became real ones and now you are reading our story.

I'm so beyond excited to marry the only person in the world I'll swim endless laps with and whose tardiness I'll always let slide. This might be our story for now, but I can't wait to let each new chapter unfold.

JAKE'S PERSPECTIVE

It was love at first sight.

C&J

Wedding Day