Thank You!
Invitation design by Royal Steamline
David grew up in Vermont and Massachusetts, went to college in Iowa, and lived in Minnesota for seven years before moving to California in . He has been developing web sites since high school, and after a few years in retail (first at Ultimate Electronics, and then at Apple as an Assistant Manager and Genius), he came to Apple headquarters and got back to coding. The first two years he developed tools for Apple retail, and since he has been writing code for developer.apple.com.
Shawna hails from Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. She got her journalism degree and promptly went into web content development for the University of Kansas, About.com, and then MacResQ (an Apple reseller). When Apple opened a retail store in Kansas City, Shawna became a Mac Genius, and after a few years found an ideal role with Apple in Cupertino. Since she has been a technical writer for AppleCare, creating service manuals and training for Apple technicians.
In June 2008, a coworker in Shawna’s department, who had been part of the retail internship program the same year as David, set up a work meeting where we first met. Then we kept bumping into each other at work events and parties over the next couple months. For our first date, on 08-08-08, we went on a whale watching cruise off the coast of Monterey.
Shawna knew that David was something special the first time she visited his apartment and saw two photos on his wall: one that showed him using a vintage Mac computer in his high school senior photo, and the other where he & his siblings were posing with Mickey Mouse! That evening he also impressed her with his cooking and his musical tastes (Tom Lehrer, anyone?)
We got engaged on 12-03-2009 in front of Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World. Our rings were created by Krikawa Jewelry Designs in Tucson, Arizona. The design is an eternity symbol (an “infinite loop,” perhaps?) inspired by a medieval sword. Shawna’s ring has diamonds, and David’s has sapphires.
Choosing our wedding date of 10-10-10 was very easy. We first thought of it because we had started dating on 08-08-08, but then realized to much delight that 101010 in binary equals 42! If you aren’t familiar with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 42 is “the answer to life, the universe, and everything.” Yes, we really are this nerdy!
With family & friends spread all over the country, we had thought about having the wedding in New England (where most of David’s family lives), Kansas City (where most of Shawna’s family lives), or Northern California (where we live). But no matter which location we picked, most of our guests would have to travel. We knew that for many of our family & friends, time and/or money might keep them from celebrating with us. So we decided to have a very small ceremony in New York City on 10-10-10 (on the iconic 42nd Street, of course!), followed by parties in San Jose, Boston and Kansas City.
David wore a traditional kilt outfit in the Keith family tartan, which was made in Scotland. Shawna wore a navy blue velveteen dress recreated from a German style circa . The ceremony was a traditional hand-fasting, a simple wedding style that was popular in Europe until the mid 1700s. Two cords were used to “tie the knot,” one created by and representing Shawna’s family, the other David’s family. By popular request, we will repeat our (short) ceremony at all three receptions.
