Triin:

Our paths crossed in Tartu in the autumn of 2019. For our first meeting, we had agreed that it would strictly be classified as a hangout, not a date. According to Simon, the difference is that for a date, the woman must wear uncomfortable tights and heels, paint her lips, and pay a visit to the hairdresser, while the man must wear nice shoes, bring flowers, and the whole nine yards. For a hangout, though, the woman can show up in a hoodie, and the man in shorts, taking along a chocolate bar with a bite already taken out of it because he got hungry on the way there. And it’s perfectly okay to then offer some of that chocolate to the lady as well.

“For a hangout, though, the woman can show up in a hoodie…”

— Triin & Simon

It was a relatively warm Friday night with a light autumn drizzle. We had agreed that we’d recognize each other by a designated color — my coat, as well as Simon's pants, were green. We met in the town square, where Simon was characteristically late, arriving ten minutes past seven. We hugged at the beginning, but I failed to consider that I might hit Simon in the eye with my umbrella — the height difference was rather noteworthy after all! For our first meeting, we visited quite a few pubs in the old town, drank some tea, ate crab legs, and Simon even indulged in a mug of ale. We talked for hours, and neither really wanted to go back home. We walked through the rainy city, across the bridges over Emajõe, and through the old town. And we had plenty to talk about! At last, though, the exhaustion caught up to us, and at 3 am Simon finally walked me home before ordering a taxi for himself as well.

That’s pretty much how all of our first meetings went — we just met up and talked about our lives. For example, we found out that years ago we’d applied to the same university. We’d been hazed together as first-year students, and most of our lectures had taken place in the same building, same floor, same hallway, just across from each other. We’d eaten lunch in the same cafe, borrowed books from the same library, and so, so much more! The time for our relationship hadn’t simply been ripe yet.

During our time together it became clear that we were joined by love, humor, music, interest in board games, and cooking, and the wonderful warm feeling we felt every time we were together.

Wedding photographer: Valdur Rosenvald | Rosenvald Photography

Preparation place: Angleterre apartments ja Hestia Hotel Seaport Tallinn

Tseremoonia koht: Oleviste kirik

Venue: Mantel & Korsten

Pastor: Veljo Kaptein

Bride’s makeup: Mädleen Mustonen

Bride’s hair: Mädleen Mustonen

Bridal bouquet & wedding flowers: Mileedi lilleärid

Bride’s dress: Marimo

Rings: Kullassepp LuxMartin

Groom’s suit: Marimo

Simon:

Some richer people fly away together to a weeklong beach vacation to find out if they can even survive existing under the same roof with their partner. For us, though, this period came in a slightly different format. As we all know, 2020 is best characterized by the start of the great pandemic and a worldwide toilet paper crisis. The governments asked people to stay in isolation!

By then, Triin and I were spending most of our free time together but were still living in separate rentals. At the same time, we already had two pairs of toothbrushes, one in each home. When the pandemic hit, I moved my office between the four walls of my apartment, and that signified the start of the first serious test for our relationship: living together in isolation, having no idea how long the situation would last. Looking back, we can thankfully say that we adapted well, and grew into a pleasant symbiosis. We were able to keep our spirits up and coexistence came rather naturally.

Even in difficulties, we were able to maintain a positive outlook; an example of that is a story of going to the grocery store. At a time when there was still debate about whether the virus was spread through fluid droplets, and the news broadcasted daily infection rates by county, we had an encounter with an intensely eager grocer. She approached us at the self-service counters and thought she’d help us get our things swiftly scanned, though we neither asked for nor needed help. Among toilet paper, we were also buying other things, like vegetables and fruits that were supposed to be individually packaged in small plastic bags. And so it happened that the lady grabbed the produce from our cart one after another, threw them on the scale, and took a small plastic bag for each one. To ease the process, though, she decided to wet her fingers on her tongue, opened the bag, and reached for our vegetables with that very same hand. We were rather flabbergasted at first but by the time we got home the whole incident gave us a lot of laughs — we figured this must be the most effective COVID spreader in the city. All-in-all, though all the daily routines and habits had been completely knocked on their heads, stress was through the roof, and there were still orders to not leave the house, the two of us actually had a really nice time together. All of it brought us closer, gave us hope, encouraged me, and soon the first thoughts of marriage began to spark.

“…and soon the first thoughts of marriage began to spark.”

Getting engaged, though, didn’t happen without its setbacks. By Midsummer Eve in 2021, the idea in Simon’s head had developed into a plan to wed Triin. In case Simon ever found love, his grandparents had gifted him their wedding rings years ago. Simon first revealed the plan to his father and that same day he also asked his sister-in-law’s husband how he had proposed to Triin’s sister. Specifically, what were the family’s views on asking for her hand in marriage from her father? Plans discussed, the man finally took heart, grabbed his grandmother’s wedding ring, and went to ask for Triin’s father’s permission to make an honest woman of her.

Permission received, Simon started to search for the perfect moment to get on one knee. By that time he’d already delicately teased out through different conversations that a grandiose public gesture would make Triin feel very uncomfortable. So the proposal had to be very romantic and intimate.

“…Simon started to search for the perfect moment to get on one knee…”

For his first attempt, Simon thought he had found the place when walking with Triin to a local lake from her grandparents’ old cottage. The trail leading to the lake crosses a small stream, which Simon thought would be the ideal place to propose. That same night they attended a Metsatöll concert nearby. Like a true metalhead, Simon was wearing a leather jacket, and in its pocket a small red heart-shaped velvet box that he kept nervously fidgeting with to make sure it hadn’t somehow gotten lost in the crowds. The evening was unusually lovely: cloudless sky, not too dark, and not too hot. It was even a full moon. At the end of the concert, Simon hinted that since it was such a beautiful night they should use the opportunity to take a stroll down to the lake, and maybe capture some nice evening pictures together, secretly hoping to stop Triin on the bridge and romantically surprise her by popping the question. But fate had other plans, and Triin didn’t want to hear anything about a detour — her legs were freezing and nature’s call had grown rather urgent. And so, the stars in the summer sky may have been aligned, the brook babbling, crickets singing and fireflies glowing all they pleased, but the pair was headed straight to the aforementioned cottage to answer nature’s call.

“But fate had other plans… her legs were freezing and nature’s call had grown rather urgent. ”

The next suitable moment arrived after a few more weeks. Simon thought he would take Triin to a beautiful marina to look at the sunset. By that time some of Triin’s closest relatives had already heard of her upcoming betrothal, while she herself knew of nothing like that to fear. Yet this attempt, too, was foiled! They arrived at the marina a bit after the sun had started to set and, having walked to the end of the pier, they found themselves surrounded by dozens of other people who had also decided to come and enjoy the picturesque view. The swirling of crowds became constant and grew to bother both of them while the colorful sunset slowly darkened into a windy night over the waves. Simon did not feel that the moment was right, and once again the ring did not find its way to Triin’s finger.

Disturbances and setbacks like this kept happening and soon there was no more time to waste — summer was coming to an end! On the night of August 29th, between the walls of their shared home, Simon asked Triin to become his wife, not letting himself be bothered by the fact that one of them was wearing a bathrobe, and some of the construction supplies from a recent renovation were still lying around the apartment. The proposal caught Triin completely off-guard. She had no idea that she herself had let many romantic moments be disrupted before this and could’ve already been engaged for two months! The slight regret did not overshadow the moment’s joy, and that night Triin finally got to announce that she was engaged.