Our Story
We first met at fourteen at Calleva Kayaking Camp in Maryland, the summer after 7th grade. We locked eyes as the only two campers to successfully paddle upstream through a strong current. Clare thought Alex was cute, but thought the same of another camper, David. On the last day of camp, everyone exchanged phone numbers, and Clare noticed a contact saved in her phone without a name. For some reason, she assumed it was David’s.
On Clare’s long bus ride home to Virginia, she worked up the courage to text her feelings, only to realize she’d messaged Alex by mistake. Or maybe, it wasn’t a mistake at all! As fate would have it, Alex felt the same way. By the end of that bus ride, he’d asked Clare “to be his girlfriend."
After hearing this story, Clare’s Mom encouraged her to stay in touch with Alex and consider dating officially, but only after eighth grade. Clare created a Facebook account just to keep the conversation going.
A year and countless texts and Facebook messages later, they became an official couple. After sixteen years (different high schools, different colleges), they’re still best friends and soulmates now ready to start their next adventure together as husband and wife.
About The Wedding Venue
In 2019, Alex and Clare visited the iconic Oculus at One World Trade Center in New York City. Designed to evoke the image of a dove in flight, the structure stands as a powerful symbol of resilience and peace. They were profoundly moved by its dramatic exterior and its calm, cathedral-like interior.
Clare, a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, was taught to find inspiration in nature when shaping both form and function—a philosophy closely aligned with that of Santiago Calatrava, the architect behind both the Oculus and the Milwaukee Art Museum. Calatrava’s work often draws from organic forms, such as the anatomy of the human spine, resulting in architecture that is both emotionally resonant and structurally inventive.
Completed in 2001, the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Quadracci Pavilion is one of the world’s first kinetic buildings. With its soaring, wing-like brise soleil and sculptural silhouette, it offers a striking and meaningful setting for Alex and Clare’s celebration. The building has also served as a cinematic and commercial icon, appearing in major campaigns, including for Porsche, and in films such as Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Visiting the Oculus at One World Trade Center in NYC in winter 2019.