WE ARE SOON TO BE: Mr. & Mrs.!

Colette Kulig & David Hjelm.

                                         

  our upcoming life together:

feb 23 - getting married at Rådhuset in Malmö, Sweden

march 12 - colette leaves sweden

march 19 - colette moves to Los Angeles

david moves out to Los Angeles later this year

 Yes, yes, it is true. There it is.

 I will tell you the story in short.

 I know this news may (surprisingly) be surprising to some. 

 However, due to Visas, and home countries and life rules, we feel we are ready to be together and not have the heartache and battle with living in each other's country and dealing with separation anymore. And also at the fact that we, duh, love each other.  

 David Hjelm and I met over a dating site, as you may know. We started communication nearly 5 years ago. We met in 2009 when I was au pairing in Sweden, even then it was 'long distance' since I was in Stockholm and he was residing in Malmö (about 5-6 hours by train.)

 We have celebrated this last year with me moving to Sweden and starting a new life here in his country.

 Apparently, that is easier said than done.

 I knew life as an immigrant would be a struggle, but I was not prepared for the challenges I was faced with all year. 

 Though it was a beautiful year with David Hjelm, lots of laughing till tears, cooking fights, movie nights, beer brewing and tasting, running, ice cream + beach dates, blahblah, it has been a very depressing financial year as I have struggled and faught to seek ANY employment possible. Nothing came through. I feel as though I am backed in a corner and have to leave as a result. I am happy to. I am not happy to leave, but the photography market in the States is better than in Sweden. 

 With that said, I have decided to take matters into my own hands and though it may have costed our relationship, decided to move back to the States. I have plans with a future business partner in LA, who is an old friend from photo school. I am bursting at the seams thinking about our creative, upcoming project.

 In this bittersweet situation we have to zone in on our relationship. Is it time to break up? No. Can we go back to long distance? No. 

 We have decided to join in a marriage and embark all of life's journeys together. No matter what country we are in. 

 For David to get approval into the United States, we must wait months after we get married. Therefore, I will be moving out to L.A. mid March and David will plan to move out later this year. We feel that we can stick out these months apart if it means we are together in the long spectrum of things. :)

 Though a wedding is a wonderful event in one's life, this is probably the worst time in our lives to plan for one. We are trying to move David out into a smaller apartment, and me moving across the world, financially being stressed the past 4 months after running out of savings, we are so tight, as I'm sure most of you are in these times.

 We have thought about this happening. My family can not come from the States, but I do have my best childhood friends flying in from Boston and Africa, whom I am so thankful they will be there to share this wonderful day. Because this is more of a 'casual' event, we are investing into the things that we feel are important in creating these memories for those who can not be there with us in person:

thats my ring! hand crafted from South Lake Tahoe, CA, where my sister lives! 

* Our rings, since they will last our lifetime. 

* Our clothing, since we want to feel and look like a bride and groom.

* Our photographer, who will create images for us to have forever and to share with all our family and friends who will not be there to join in our celebration.

 Being on a strict budget, ring and dress shopping has been successful. The photographer's bill. . . . . not so much. As a photographer myself, I know the expenses are and how important it is, and  I think especially since it will be so small and intimate, we want to share it with you through photographs. 

 We understand that family and friends, all around the world are dealing with tight financial times. We ask that you generously think about making any kind of donation to our 'wedding photographer fund' because we want to share the images with you all who will not be there. 

We thank you greatly for your help in making our wedding dreams come true!
Please find the DONATE button at the top of the page to make your generous donation.

XOXO, david & colette.