Like many modern love stories, ours started on the internet.

When we matched, Joey was living in Cambridge and Annie was in East Boston. Our first date happened on one of the coldest nights of the year, but easy conversation (and probably a little stubbornness about walking through the freezing weather) led to a second date.

Just after Annie accepted a new job, Joey planned a surprise date. She simply said she'd pick Annie up at 8. When she arrived at the door carrying takeout sushi and a bouquet of sunflowers, Annie knew she was onto something special. The rest, as they say, is history.

Not long after, we moved into our first apartment together in East Boston. We spent weekends with our friends (both human and canine), discovered a shared love of spin classes, and built a home together with our dog, Charlie.

As our relationship grew, so did Joey and Charlie's. Joey patiently wore him down with ribs, sausages, chicken wings, and every other treat Charlie never got from Annie, the lifelong vegetarian. So when Joey asked Charlie for his blessing before proposing in October 2025, he was more than happy to secure his favorite snack supplier for life.

A few weeks later, Joey proposed to Annie at Piers Park in East Boston. A few weeks later, Annie and Charlie surprised Joey with a proposal of their own beneath Joey's favorite tree at the Arnold Arboretum.

Since then, we've filled our life with the things we love most: traveling to celebrate the people we love, growing our home library, herb garden, and ever-expanding mid-century furniture collection, and eating our way through Greater Boston in search of the best dim sum, hot pot, udon, bánh mì, and great wine. In the winter, you'll usually find us heading north to Franconia Notch, where we spend as many weekends as we can skiing in the White Mountains.

In the winter of 2026, we moved to East Arlington, just a few blocks from where generations of the Gibbons family grew up. We have loved settling into our neighborhood—walking Charlie to Gibbons Park, biking the Minuteman Bikeway, and finding new friends to play Mahjong with.

A little about where we each come from: Joey grew up in Hong Kong, where her parents instilled in her a love of adventure and the outdoors. Family vacations meant traveling the world to hike, scuba dive, camp, and explore beautiful places together. She later moved to the United States for high school before attending college in Maine, where she spent as much time as possible hiking, camping, and exploring New England. She was living with her sister in Cambridge when we met.

Annie grew up in New Hampshire, spending summers in the woods, swimming in lakes, camping with her family across New England, and winters skiing in the White Mountains. Her family has deep roots in Cambridge and Lowell and has since spread throughout Greater Boston. Annie's favorite childhood memories were made at summer camp, where she learned to love campfires, waterfront afternoons, and the magic of unplugging for a week with great people.

When it came time to choose a wedding venue, the decision was easy. We wanted our wedding to reflect the things we love most: the outdoors, adventure, good food, and quality time with the people we care about. And while Annie grew up with plenty of classic, rugged Gibbons family tent camping, we are very happy to report that this camp has cabins with electricity.

But this place is more than just a summer camp. It is a camp for trans, non-binary, and queer youth—a place that shows the next generation that they belong, they are loved, and they have the freedom not only to be exactly who they are, but to dream of the kind of life and love we have been so lucky to find together.

Celebrating our love in a place that creates space, safety, and belonging for queer youth is a dream come true. In a time when the rights of LGBTQIA+ people to exist, love, and live freely are under attack, we feel incredibly lucky to have access to this space and deeply honored to be surrounded by a community of queer people and allies who show up to celebrate us and fight for all of our rights.

This will be our biggest celebration, and we hope you'll be there to be part of it. For our family and friends who aren't able to make the trip, we're also planning a smaller celebration in Hong Kong in 2028 so we can celebrate with loved ones there as well.

We're so grateful you're part of our story, and we can't wait to welcome you to our big gay party.