We met on May 5th, 2012. Aurelle crashed a party and it could be suggested that it was love at first sight. Four years later, we met again in a bar in Ypsilanti, MI. That same year, we moved to Grand Rapids together and slowly started building the beginning of a life we wanted together.

After buying a house four years ago, we knew that one thing remained—to get married. In our own fashion, we knew that we were not interested in a traditional engagement. Neither of us felt compelled to have the focal point of it be an engagement ring.

So, we started thinking about things that could take the place of a ring while being just as special. Something that could be cherished for the rest of our lives, held onto generationally as an heirloom, and—of course—coveted by others! A particular idea kept reoccurring in those conversations: a painting.

But how do you decide which painting, by which artist, and from where? And the answer came to us as naturally and by chance as everything else in our relationship seems to have. While attending a women’s networking event at the AllArtWorks gallery in Grand Rapids, the star painting of the evening had captured everyone’s attention. Calli Salazar’s “Intangible,” seen in our photos here, instantly became the only option.

Several weeks later, we got entangled in the very same gallery using Calli’s painting.