Plot Twist
Welcome to Our Surprise Wedding
If you're here, you've probably already figured out that our Fourth of July party came with a surprise.
On July 4, 2026, surrounded by family, friends, fireworks, and more neon than anyone reasonably needs, we officially became husband and wife.
Thank you for being part of this day.
The greatest gift we could have received was having the people we love gathered together in one place. Your presence, laughter, support, and willingness to join us for an unconventional celebration mean more than we can adequately express.
Our Story
See below of how you and we ended up here!
A Note About Gifts
We never wanted this day to be about gifts.
We wanted it to be about connection, community, fun, and creating memories with the people who have helped shape our lives.
If you feel called to celebrate this next chapter with a gift, we've provided a link below. Please know there is absolutely no expectation or obligation. Having you here is already more than enough
With love and gratitude,
Bill & Raschel
July 4, 2026
Our Story
Well... it all started with a swipe right.
Bill and I met on Bumble. I remember looking through his profile and thinking two things:
He looked like one of the happiest people I had ever seen.
Why is he eating out of a container in so many of these photos?
Naturally, I swiped right.
We started talking while he was traveling and, honestly, my life was a complete chaos fire at the time.
My mom and I had just lost her home and was trying to figure out what to do next while also taking care of Mom during cancer treatments. At one point I was literally standing in a hotel room with my cat trying to figure out where we were going to live.
As any reasonable person would do, I told Bill all of this.
His first thought was apparently something along the lines of, "Great. I finally meet this awesome woman and she can't pay her bills."
After I sent him the news article explaining what happened, he realized I wasn't making it up.
Our first official meeting was at the house affectionately known as Jumanji. Not long after that, Bill invited me to be his date at his family's Round Robin. I remember responding, "Sure. My life can't get any weirder."
My first date with Bill turned into a 10+ hour adventure that included a large chunk of his family.
And somehow... it worked.
From there we just kept figuring life out together.
Cats.
Cribbage.
Golf.
Good food.
Family gatherings.
A house.
More cats.
Ironically, this entire wedding started because I/we wanted another cat.
For months he kept asking me if we were going to get a second cat.
For months I kept thinking, "What I really want is to marry you."
Finally, after one too many cat conversations, I scooted my chair over, grabbed his hands, and told him there was something I wanted more than another cat.
His face immediately turned white.
I told him I wanted to marry him someday.
His response?
"Ditto."
Then we basically didn't talk about it again for months.
One night we were sitting on the couch talking about how weddings can become a lot. A lot of planning. A lot of stress. A lot of expectations.
I told him about a surprise wedding I attended when I was sixteen and how much fun it was.
Somewhere in that conversation, this ridiculous idea was born.
Originally, this was supposed to be a housewarming party.
Then the housing market did what the housing market does.
Plans changed.
And somehow we ended up with a neon-themed Fourth of July party that secretly doubles as a wedding.
Honestly, it feels pretty perfect.
Because what mattered most to us wasn't a venue, a seating chart, or whether we followed tradition.
What mattered was having the people we love all together in one place.
So thank you.
Thank you for showing up.
Thank you for celebrating with us.
Thank you for being part of the story.
And thank you for being the kind of people who would willingly attend a neon Fourth of July party and accidentally end up at a wedding.
Love,
Raschel & Bill