How did the two of you meet?
We met during a London Olympics viewing party in the summer in NYC.
Give us the proposal details! When? Where? How?
He planned a fun Saturday — visiting a modern art museum, a trip to our rock climbing gym and great burgers at a local joint. While we biked home, we worked on the Saturday crossword puzzle (a tradition since we got together). Unbeknownst to me, he had written his own crossword puzzle that looked just like the one in the New York Times. In the middle of it was “Natalya” and “Marry Me”. Apparently he worked on the puzzle for years to make it right – heart swoon!
What has been your favorite experience planning the wedding?
Thinking about ways to honor the important people in our life, having a project with my mom, and finding the dress was pretty rad!
I know the joy that comes from that day will stay with me forever and create the perfect foundation for the beginning of our marriage.
How do you stay sane under the pressures of wedding planning?
We started planning way in advance and try to stick to our timeline, with time every weekend to tackle a few of the items on our list. I’m lucky to have parents who are so supportive without having expectations of what our wedding will look like. And I got a ‘month of’ coordinator who has already been super helpful with tips and recommendations, even though we’re seven months out!
What is your favorite part of using Joy for your wedding?
I love the clean design and the app capability.
What piece of advice would you give couples to ensure that they use Joy to its fullest potential?
Divvy up the different parts of the website (who writes the “story”, who finds the photos, who researches things to do in the town where you’re getting married, who works up the registry). There are a lot of pieces to work on before the website is ready for launch, and tackling them methodically will pay off.
At Joy we believe that even though a wedding lasts a day, joy lasts forever. What does that mean to you?
What makes a wedding special isn’t necessarily the things that happen, but the people that come together and the love and relationships among them. To have everyone in one space – I know the joy that comes from that day will stay with me forever and create the perfect foundation for the beginning of our marriage.
