Toledo Zoo Wedding in Toledo, Ohio

Erin and Darby have spent nearly eight years learning how to love each other across different cities, schools, careers, and seasons of life. Their wedding day at the Toledo Zoo was a celebration of everything they had built together.

They first met in high school. Although they had known of each other since freshman year, it wasn’t until the end of senior year that they really connected. Darby asked Erin’s friends about her during study hall, and they happily introduced the two of them. Despite coming from different circles, they quickly realized how much they had in common where it mattered most.

With graduation approaching, they knew they were about to go their separate ways. Darby headed to Wittenberg University while Erin attended the University of Michigan-Dearborn, but neither wanted something that had just begun to end simply because of distance. They decided to give long-distance a chance.

That first year came with some growing pains, particularly when it came to communication, but it also gave them the chance to learn how to choose each other even when they weren’t in the same place. And then their paths took them even farther apart. Darby went on to dental school at Ohio State, while Erin pursued her PhD in clinical psychology at Illinois Tech.

For nearly eight years, they continued making it work.

Through all those years, they grew up together, supported each other’s goals, and helped one another become the people they are today. Erin describes their relationship as one built on unwavering loyalty and love, and it’s clear that their commitment to each other has been there through every move, degree, and new chapter.

Their proposal was another chapter with family woven right into it.

Shortly after New Year’s Day in 2024, Erin and Darby traveled to Colorado to visit Darby’s sister, Grace. Erin had already bought the ring and had reached out to Darby’s parents to share her intentions to marry their daughter. She had the simple gold band Darby wanted, with one special addition: an engraving that read “I love you more,” a phrase that fits perfectly with one of their favorite ongoing arguments.

Erin had also enlisted Grace, who was excited to be there for the proposal. In front of a bookshop in Breckenridge, Colorado, Erin got down on one knee while Darby was distracted, and Grace quietly captured the moment. Darby knew a proposal was coming sometime during the trip, but Erin still managed to surprise her.

The next morning, Darby had a proposal of her own.

She knelt beside Erin’s bedside with Erin’s grandmother’s engagement ring, which Erin’s mother had given her for Darby, and asked Erin to marry her. Two proposals, two rings, and one very mutual decision to spend their lives together.

In 2025, Erin and Darby decided to make their legal marriage official sooner than their original wedding date. With their families beside them, they were married by an officiant in a Chicago park. Their parents and Darby’s sister traveled to be there. When even more extended family wanted the chance to celebrate with them, they decided to keep their original wedding date and turn it into a vow renewal.

And that’s what brought everyone together at the Toledo Zoo.

Their vision for the day was cozy, intimate, rustic, and romantic, with a distinctly fall-inspired palette of maroon, forest green, and burnt orange. The Formal Gardens provided a beautiful setting for their ceremony, while the Great Hall gave everyone a place to continue the celebration afterward.

They kept the details personal rather than overly coordinated, even giving their bridesmaids the freedom to choose dresses they felt beautiful in within the general color palette. Their vows were written by the two of them, making the ceremony an especially meaningful reflection of everything they had experienced together.

Their officiant was someone who had known Erin since first grade and had become close with Darby, too. After nearly eight years of navigating long-distance, building careers, supporting each other’s dreams, and growing up together, having a lifelong friend standing with them made the ceremony feel even more personal.

Erin and Darby’s story isn’t about one single moment. It’s about thousands of small choices to keep showing up for each other, no matter how many miles were between them. Their Toledo Zoo vow renewal was a chance to bring all of those years into one place and celebrate the life they’ve already built, while looking forward to everything still ahead.