Lee & Gabi: A Beautiful Wedding & A Viral First Dance and the Story Behind It

Alright… this is a special one.

I’ve got Lee and Gabi with me today, and their story is one I’ve carried with me since October of 2022. I had the honor of being part of their wedding day, and I’m telling you… it was one of those nights you don’t forget.

It was a beautiful blending of cultures, families coming together, so much intentionality, so much love… and then a first dance that, honestly, took on a life of its own and went viral.

But what I love most about Lee and Gabi isn’t just that moment… it’s their story. Who they are, how they got here, and what life has looked like since that day.

So today, we’re going to revisit their wedding, talk about what made it so special, what they’ve learned in marriage so far, and hopefully give you some insight and encouragement for your own story.

Lee and Gabi… I’m so pumped to have you on. Let’s go.”

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Alright, hello. Welcome to the Hitchin Spin Podcast. We are glad that you have joined in with us, whether you're listening on Spotify or iTunes or watching on Facebook or YouTube. Today I'm super excited to have this couple on. It's Lee and Gabby, and literally just some of the coolest people that I have ever got to be able to be a part of their day. They're just special from the beginning uh all the way till the end of the wedding, and we continue to stay in touch to this day. My hat's crooked. But um anyway, we want to have them on here. They're gonna talk about their day, kind of catch up with them, see how they're doing, and uh always just kind of relive their wedding day moment. And they had a first dance video that was amazing and went just a little viral. So we're gonna talk about that as well. So I'm gonna do a little intro here, let everybody kind of join in. So if you're listening to Spotify and iTunes, I'm gonna do like a one-minute intro. That way the people that join us on the live can uh come on and come in, and then we will get started, all right. Glad you joined in with us. My name is Stephen Curl, and I'm your host as always, and honored to be a part of couples' wedding days and be part of their day with their families. Today we have Lee and Gabby. I'm gonna bring them in here and we're gonna get started. So here they are. Hey guys, what's up, guys? How are you?

SPEAKER_05 2:34

Doing great, doing good, Steven. Thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

So, you guys, we were talking about this a little bit before we started, but it's been almost four years since your wedding day. Isn't that crazy?

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Yes, time flies.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

I don't believe it, man. Feels like yesterday. I know it does, it really, really, it truly does, right? It's like, and just so that everyone knows, I mean, of course, I I love all the couples I get to work with, right? But I y'all's y'all's wedding ceremony, and we'll get more of this in a second, but I still use that to this day. I share it with people, and I've had so many people use your ceremony. Um, you know, when I give it to them as the example, they pull things out of it. But I just remember everything about your day, and so I'm excited to get back into that. But tell me about you guys, catch me up. How's life? How's things going? Tell me kind of how things have been going for the past past few years. It's been a while since we talked.

SPEAKER_05 3:29

Yeah, man, it's been a minute. Life has been good. Uh, really just working. It seems like that. Uh this this past year, especially been grinding down and working. Um, Gabby got her dream job over working for Samsung uh at her uh it's advertising in-house advertising agency. Right, and uh I've continued to work in IT. Uh really just grinding. It feels like, man. Us us our three babies chats.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

The three kitties. Yeah, yeah. I'll tell you this, Gabby. She helped me like with the low my logo and stuff. She's so good at what she does as far as you're so good at what you do, Gabby.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

I appreciate that right back in chat.

SPEAKER_05 4:13

Wait, so the one you can use now, Steven, is this one that you guys work together on? So it's the go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

It it's similar, um, but the typography changed a little bit, but the colors are kind of there. Uh, like he's he mentioned he used a little bit of AI help and got the way he exactly wanted it.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

Yes, yeah. So it has a whole deal, and I want to kind of we talked about this, so I wanted kind of a retro vibe on everything, you know what I'm saying? Because the dream, my dream is that logo right there on the side of a Volkswagen band. That's my dream. And so that's uh that's what I'm working toward. So, but anyway, that's cool. Well, congratulations on your dream job, Gabby.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

That's awesome. And then Lee, I guess you're are you with the same company that you've been with all along, or are you kind of shifted?

SPEAKER_05 5:00

No, yeah, no, I've I'm with the same company. Um, it's uh we're small as best of stress, um, in Dallas. Uh but yeah, just just uh this the same company. I've kind of just moved up. I started with uh claim review over there, and just so happened that the IT person left and um they offered me that position and have kind of been paying my certification. So yeah, it's it's it's been great to me.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

That's awesome. That's so good. Well, congratulations to you guys and on your three kitties, you know. Three cat lovers. So tell me how marriage has been. I mean, it's been almost four years. Tell me about the how you guys are doing with marriage and challenges and joys and all that kind of stuff. How's it just for people watching that maybe just getting married or thinking about getting married? Just what it what input you got? How is it, baby?

SPEAKER_00 5:52

It's actually been really great. Like, I have absolutely no complaints, and if anyone has doubts if they should marry the love of their lives, I'm like, just do it because it's like having your best friend with you every single day. It's it's really wonderful. Like, I have literally nothing bad to say about it. It's a lot of partnership, um, and it's just having like your person there with you all the time. It's it's lovely.

SPEAKER_05 6:17

Yeah, I feel the same way, man. Uh people really try to get me nervous about marriage when when we went through it for the first time, but um in in my experience, perhaps because I've found the best wife in the world, but no doubt. It's been it's been great. Um, I I love being married. Uh, I think we have had so much fun together, um, and we continue to to have fun and grow stronger.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Uh it's been um it's been no complaints on on my end. Yeah. How do you do that though? Like, you know, I'm saying there's like a daily you said you know you're grinding things out, just growing stronger, staying. What are some just some advice as far as components that you have found have made your marriage over these these first four years be that? You know, I'm saying what are the things that you think are most important?

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Um, I would say communication is key. I think we both learn that early on in the relationship, and we use it a lot in our day-to-day. So, like sometimes I had a really long day and I'm not feeling like talking as much. I'm just a little one, I want to be a little more by myself. So if I didn't communicate that, Lee could have think that I did like he did something wrong and I'm mad at him or something like this. So I make sure to say, I just had a really long day. Like, all I want is to take a bath, read my book, and go to bed. Like, and then he's like, Okay, like I understand, like that's that's cool, and that way uh we don't have any misunderstandings between each other, like our relationship.

SPEAKER_05 7:50

Yeah, but that's the most important thing, communication and just love and respect in general. You gotta you gotta be considerate of your partner's feelings, and I think um that's something you've always uh been for me.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

So, yeah, I think you know, when I do premarital with couples, I always the last session I do is on the big three, and it's communication, money, and intimacy. And but communication is the core of everything, I think. And I'll tell you this, and not just saying this, you know, because we're talking, but I believe that um, you know, just being with you guys and even reflecting back, which we'll do even we'll do more in a second, but your families and just the way everyone communicated, even the day of your wedding, you can tell so much about the values of a family and what your core's beliefs are about. And honestly, that was exemplified in your entire day on your wedding day, too. You know, just seeing the families come together and seeing the cultures coming together and the way you guys did that. I just feel like sometimes it's so good to have a foundation of that in your lives. Have you found that to be important for you guys because you had a foundation coming into this and you kind of had an idea and you had talked about it?

SPEAKER_05 8:59

That that's a great question. You know, I would say that she's instilled it from her uh side of the family a little bit more, and it it was almost new to me. Um, but that it's incredibly evident. I mean, she has a great relationship with her parents. She talks to her parents every day, I think. If if I'm not mistaken, I'll come home and she's on FaceTime with the mom and I'll get to say hi. And uh it's uh I I I would say so. Sorry, I don't mean to speak for you.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

No, absolutely. Every single day, I'm I'm the little little girl. I make I make sure to stay make sure to stay there, little girl. We have other kids in the family now, but I still want to be treated a little bit like a baby if I didn't.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that was cool because I did see that, you know, and it was something that was translated. Um, so and then I guess the last thing just kind of catching up, but what do you think have been the obviously you talk about your jobs, but highlights just the the best highlights that you can think back over the past four years, just some things that you look back in your marriage and think, gosh, that was great, and they were good catapults moving you in the future.

SPEAKER_05 10:03

Um I would say for for me, anyways, a lot of it has been we've spent a lot of time traveling, right? Um probably traveling and uh meeting your family in Brazil for me, seeing some of uh you know, Gabby moved to the States when she was what eight, 18 or 19, and so um, you know, a huge portion of her life is back home in in Brazil. So we traveled to Sao Paulo, her hometown, and I got to see a lot of the areas uh where she grew up, uh a lot of her friends, meeting her friends, um, and and seeing some of that background, right? Um I'd say that for me.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Yeah, I I would agree. I think the trips to Brazil are very important um for me, for you to meet my family. My grandma recently passed, and he got to meet her a couple of times, so that means the world to me, you know, that he could see a little more of where I come from and um what makes me me, you know.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

Yeah, that's awesome, that's a huge highlight. I think it's good to kind of understand backgrounds and and everything. So, and with that said, so tell me, remind me about how you guys met and kind of your journey, you know, coming together and beginning your relationship together because I love these stories. Okay, she loves telling the stories.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

Okay, so uh I moved to the last when I was 18 years old and I started in community college. Um, Lee's work had just sent him back to college, so he was enrolled again. Um, and then we um had a class together my second year there. Like I I think I think I had been already there for two semesters. So I was 19 at the time. Um environmental science, and we had environmental science class together.

SPEAKER_05 11:46

Great class, comedian. Yeah, great class, fantastic professor.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

We we still thank Mr. Ferguson for you know bringing this together.

SPEAKER_05 11:56

I sent him an email years later. I was like, hey man, do you remember us? Uh sweet, sweet uh old man. Uh uh, I sent him a picture of our wedding, like, you know, you saw the genesis of this because literally I would sit at the very front. I loved the class, so I was always super engaged. But the very first time Gabby walked in, I mean, I noticed her. I was like, Oh my gosh, who is of course? I was too shy to say anything, but yeah, um, you know, I I I definitely saw her from the very first day and I had my little eye on her, my little shy self. Um, but uh Mr. Ferguson saw everything from the first time that uh I think we stayed outside talking together when you know we finally got the courage to speak. Um, sorry, you you tell the story.

SPEAKER_00 12:41

So um I noticed he immediately as well. He he's really smart and he was very involved in the class. He would always answer the questions or actually um ask questions that were like very interesting and complex. So I noticed him, yes, you did. So I noticed him very early on. Um and I liked him. Like I we had this moment where we um I I was paying attention to class and I could tell someone was looking at me, and then when I turned around, our eyes, like our gazes collided, and we had we had what I like to call love at first sight. People might think that's like, oh no, that's that's that's too much, or things like this, but that's how I felt in that moment. Um, we looked at each other and I felt inside of me like I knew this person and that I loved this person. It was it was crazy.

SPEAKER_05 13:36

I will I'll back that up here. I know it sounds a little corny, but I I definitely had um a moment like that. I I know exactly what she's talking about. There was a moment where we first kind of locked eyes. I obviously I'd seen her before, she had seen me, but we our eyes connected, and for a second I was frozen, like I couldn't move. I I um I I was froze looking at her, she smiled at me, and finally I broke. And I remember thinking to myself, what in the world was that? Like what just happened to me there? Yeah, it was it was a significant little moment though.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

So after that moment happened, I was like, I have to meet this guy, you know, like I have to talk to him or something like this, but I didn't know how to do it because he was always a little bit late to class, so I would be like outside of class waiting for him to like maybe walk by and I'll I'll say something like hi, like we're in the same class together and try that conversation. But he was always a little bit late, so I was already sitting down, class was already kind of like starting when he would arrive, so I couldn't do that. So that's when the crazy, crazy part comes to play. I decided to create uh group me, which is just this um this app that you can have uh multiple like conversations with with people.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I've used that before.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

Um, so we decided to create uh well we know I decided to create a group me for the class, which is something in college is very common. Like all my other classes had a group me. So I was like, why not make one for this class?

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Um but you had ulterior motives.

SPEAKER_00 15:12

I did.

SPEAKER_05 15:13

She did, she sure did.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

You make it sound creeper. I literally uh I copied the link of the group me and I went to the inbox on what Canva, Canva, which was the system we used in school, and there you can click your class and it selects all the people you have class with. So that's just what I did. I didn't have everybody's email. I just went to the class and created an inbox and selected everybody in the class and said, Hey, I'm creating a group me for our first exam. Here's the link if you like to join. And then I waited, I sent it out and waited for him to join.

SPEAKER_05 15:54

And when he did, I told him, I think I was the first person to join, wasn't I?

SPEAKER_00 15:58

I don't know. You were one of the first ones for sure. Um, and when I did, um, I went on Instagram, like searched his name and started following him. And I couldn't be more obvious.

SPEAKER_05 16:08

Well, I did I did the same thing. I looked for her in the group me and I saw, I was like, Gabby, does that sound like it could be that girl? Sure enough, I I actually I could I couldn't find her because your name was Gabriela or something like that. So I couldn't find her on Instagram, but um, but I looked, yeah, researched.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

Yes, and then after that, he's just basically he sweetly came to talk to me in person. Um, and we he's like, Thank you for creating the group chat, and then we started talking, and you know, everything happened after that. It was pretty much the the the beginning.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

Yeah, and what how long ago what what year was that?

SPEAKER_00 16:48

That was 2018.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

2018, okay. So so you had been in the States just for a short amount of time then at that point.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

Yes, one one year.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Okay, so you've been there one year. That's awesome. What a cool story. I forgot about that, yeah. And I think it's like, you know, and I do believe that I mean, I just believe that there is a connection, right? That there's that there's that we have our that person that we were intended to be with, you know, and so and obviously, you know, Lee, you'd already been trying to, you know, when you finally got eye contact, because you already were like you were already looking for it, right? Oh yeah, oh yeah, and then it happens. So remind me on that point, so y'all dated for a while, and you guys so it's 2018 and you guys got married in 2022. So you guys were together for four years, I guess, before you got married.

SPEAKER_00 17:34

We we actually um we 2022 was like our official wedding ceremony, right?

SPEAKER_01 17:40

That's right, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

Because we were a COVID wedding, so in 2020, we decided to get married, we got engaged, and we had literally a Zoom call for our wedding with the with the judge in the courthouse. So it was something very, very simple at first. So whenever you know my parents could travel back here to the US, when like the they could that's right, yeah, because COVID was you know a little better. That's when we had the official wedding that you participated in 2022.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Okay, so you guys have been married for six years then. Yeah, yeah. Wow, that's right. I've forgotten about that. That's amazing. Well, I'll tell you what, you're and we said this a while ago, what a beautiful story, and I think that's the deal, is that I I don't know how you guys feel about this, but I just feel like so often, and one of the things I really want to do with this podcast is you know, I've been doing weddings for over 30 years, and so I'm gonna bring back even couples that I did their wedding maybe 30 years ago. No, but yeah, I know, right? And so, but I think just re-igniting or re-engaging with the moment we met, you know, and and and just reflecting back on the day that our families came together, you know, to celebrate our wedding. Because I think life can take off so fast, like you guys have said, and you're grinding so hard, and you're trying to build a future, and you're trying to build a life. And and I love what you guys have already said, and I love this truly about your relationship, and just so people know that are watching or listening, you know, just following you guys on Instagram and you know, and just seeing your journey and just uh just see how you guys live life and you go to places and eating, you know, and Gabby's always really good about posting your food or you know, just life and where you're living and that kind of stuff. But I think sometimes we we just don't reflect enough, you know, and remember how we met and remember that moment when you guys locked eyes, you know, in that love at first sight moment, because life gets hard, and we can if we're not careful and we don't stay committed to one another, you know, we can lose sight of that, right? I mean, you guys agree with that?

SPEAKER_05 19:41

Oh, dude, a hundred percent, man. A hundred percent. And it's and and like you said, it can be difficult to find the time to to reflect. Um, so I appreciate you having us on. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

I I've been truly so excited about this moment because I just you know, I had marking, I could feel that way about so many couples, but that's why I love what I do so much. I didn't I didn't get into this, but I just was already doing it, right? Intention spin was born because of a purpose, and this was the biggest purpose. It's just creating relationships with people, um, you know, ultimately, which is important.

SPEAKER_05 20:17

So and great, dude, you're so so great at what you do, man. I'm so glad that we found you as well. Um, and it it blows my mind that you say you have relationships with some people from 30 years ago that you your your very first weddings, huh?

SPEAKER_01 20:31

Yeah, I I did my first wedding when I was 18 years old.

SPEAKER_05 20:34

Wow, no way, yeah, yeah. How did that happen though?

SPEAKER_01 20:39

So basically, I was in um you know, I was in um some churches and religious organizations and stuff like that, and so then I got licensed to all that, and when then you know, when you get licensed and people know that you can do that, well then they're like, Hey, would you do our wedding? Yeah, and so that's how it started. Then I worked with students for so long and families, and so when they know you can do weddings and they just start, you know, so I would do I don't know how many every year before I ever started hitching spin. So and so the whole story of it, and I just um I just had talked about this recently as well, but I was doing a wedding in 2010. I don't know if I ever told you guys this, but um in 2010, we kind of just said, okay, we're gonna move a different direction in life. It just kind of changed directions and we were trying to figure out purpose and how we were gonna go, but we love the family and had a passion for the family. We've been through a ton of stuff, you know. One day I need to write a book called my about my wife called She Stayed. But um, but in the middle of all that, we were changing directions, and I did a wedding in 2011 for a girl named Brittany. She's gonna be on here next month. And um, her and her husband Matt, and their DJ was just not good. And so I remember we were out in the this area, everybody just kind of meandered out everybody. I was talking and just visiting and whatever. And we were talking with Brittany, and someone, you know, they were talking about the DJ and how that it wasn't very good. And someone said, You should have got Steven a DJ. And she's like, I didn't know you DJ'd. And um, and I was like, Yeah, and I'd been doing dances and community events and schools and stuff like that. And um, and she looked at me, she said, You need to merge these worlds together. I'd never thought about like the efficient side and the DJ side, and uh, because I'd always been multifaceted and I just had that skill set where I could do everything at the same time. And so, and then she looked at me, she said, You should call it Hitchin Spin.

SPEAKER_05 22:38

And I'm like, Great name, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

And I was like, Yes, I should. And so it was that was it. She literally, Britney, literally, it was just one of those aha moments, you know, like you talked about love at first sight. You have those moments where a door opens and you're like, I got to go through it. So that's how it happened, man.

SPEAKER_05 22:54

Isn't that crazy? That is so nuts, man. Yeah, you just happen to have the skill set to to knock them out of both. And well, as I mentioned, you killed our wedding, bro. I mean, listen, our family still talks about how much fun the wedding was, how much fun you were. So, dude, bravo, hats off to you.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

Thank you. Well, I just love working, you know, and getting to work with people like you guys, it makes it even better, right? So it was awesome. So, your wedding, let's talk about since we're on it. I think I will tell you, and I put this in the notes that I sent to you. Uh, and we can I've got some videos and stuff that I want to show too, but uh the things that come to mind were family. Uh I mean, obviously love. I mean, so love's first, right? There was no doubt your ceremony was beautiful. Um, and I love the way you guys you know helped write it, you know. So basically, I share that with other people, like I said earlier. Um, and and people to this day still, you know, send them Lee and Gabby as an example of a good ceremony that they can use. But love and then family and celebration and laughter, those are the things that came to my mind when I think about y'all's day. But as you reflect back, just kind of on your wedding and how awesome it was, what are the things that stick out to you guys that you reflect and just think, gosh, that was amazing, just a great moment.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

I would say I would say the whole day was a dream, you know, the whole day was a dream come true. The venue was also like exactly what we expected for this outdoor wedding, like the vibes were exactly what we wanted, right? I would say honestly, the whole package. Can you think of something?

SPEAKER_05 24:31

Literally, llamas, llamas at the wedding, uh uh a beer borough.

SPEAKER_00 24:36

Um, you know the photo booth. I I love our photo booth. It was like kind of like a vintage bus that you could go in and take pictures.

SPEAKER_05 24:44

Yes, that's right. Yeah, it was a lot. I mean, dude, it it was to be to be quite honest, bro. I was so nervous, Stephen. Like, I don't remember. I mean, I obviously the wedding was amazing, and all of those words, you know, uh say signify it, I guess. But I was so nervous that I can't think of one particular thing that's that's sticking other than my vows. I was so nervous. The vows in the dance will I'm sure we'll get to it at some point, but I was so nervous that day. Um that I can only really remember after after that, after after reading about yeah, every mentoring and looking at him, and that was our special um for me.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

Like when I when we were while I was about to walk down the aisle, I had my dad, um, my dress was a tiny bit longer than it was supposed to. So I was actually tripping a little bit in my dress. So I had to tell my dad like that, like I cannot walk right now. Can you pull my dress up a little? Because I had my flowers, so I couldn't do it myself. Um, so I remember being a little nervous in the moment, but then as soon as I looked at Lee, like I calmed down and I just you know was walking towards him, which is always something about our our wedding planner, like kind of ditched us at the last second.

SPEAKER_05 25:58

We had a new we met our wedding, what not is it not planner? The event coordinator, event coordinator at the uh last second she unfortunately had to leave, and so there was a little bit of confusion during that. I mean, they I don't know if you you saw, but my side sat on Gabby's side of the aisle, and like it was just my dad in the front row on my side, and then the the next rows were empty, so I was a little angry about that too. It was a little bit of a mess.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

I forget about that. Yeah, well, and I think just looking back, isn't it funny for me? Like, you think about those things, and then once you get past it, you know, like you said, you're you know, uh your vows were beautiful, you both did great, it was amazing. So here we are, right here on your way. Look at there.

SPEAKER_04 26:44

Oh, look at us.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

We've come a few, look at that, we've come a ways, and this is at Arrowwood at weddings and events, which um I know I love Arrowwood. I do a lot of weddings there. The guys have created such a great atmosphere. Um there and then you yeah, yeah, it's it was gorgeous, and it was a beautiful day, and so and Gabby, look at I mean, you get you both look great, Lee. You look great too. But but honestly, I mean the way Gabby, I mean, just beautiful, right? I mean, oh man, so beautiful.

SPEAKER_05 27:16

Yeah, we still have that dress up uh in the closet.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

She had it still fits. I tried in October.

SPEAKER_05 27:25

For Halloween, she was the were you the corpses bride?

SPEAKER_00 27:27

No, I was uh the Fenton of Opera, B was the Fenton, and I was the girl who I forgot the name now. That what's what's her name?

SPEAKER_04 27:36

I forget, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:37

But the girl who the phantom kidnaps basically.

SPEAKER_05 27:40

That and that that dress was a pain. She she had it made in Brazil, it's handmade. Um, but obviously, uh we could only get our hands on it when her parents visited us. So for a couple years, or maybe maybe they went back and forth and they'd bring it back with alterations made and oh wow, kind of hoping. Okay, is this the last time? Yeah, um, there's a process.

SPEAKER_00 28:05

It was that that dress traveled probably more than us.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

That's awesome. And then this picture here, so this is in the reception, and now this is um that's that arrowwood, they have a DJ booth that's that's already built in behind it. But I told y'all earlier, I saw I have this app called Vibo, which is amazing. Uh, it plans all the weddings, and so every couple has their own app and they can put all their music choices and everything into it. But they have a spot where they can load their own personal picture, and I love this picture so much. So this is the this is the what's that word I'm looking? This is the picture that I put as the placeholder, I guess. Yeah, this is the placeholder. So everybody that goes on the app, they see Lee and Gabby. Yeah, yeah. So uh I use that because I just I've always loved this picture, it just um such a great moment. Yeah, so anyway, and then this is you. I got this. I and that this is a long video. I think I need to send this as you and your dad. Oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:12

So the um the song I sent it to you, I didn't hear the whole song, so the start of the song was exactly what we needed, but when it had a remix into it, so it started playing this part of the song, and we were not expecting, so we just looked at each other. We're like, okay, let's do this.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

I never knew that.

SPEAKER_05 29:35

He's down for anything.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Yeah, you could listen, the day of the wedding, obviously. I mean, he was all about it, and I just think this is such a great moment, right? It's just because I love that because this was part of you guys just kind of oh, okay, well, let's just go for it.

SPEAKER_05 29:50

Yeah, and then we just went for it.

SPEAKER_04 29:52

Oh, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

Yeah, and there was so much celebration, like in this picture here for this video here, and then I love this, right? Y'all are just having the time of your life, and everybody was you know, click at your dad. Yeah, it was it was it was amazing the whole day, and that's the outdoor dance floor there at um at Arrowwood. That um, you know, it's got the lights and everything, and and it's just cool because everybody was just connecting, and oh yeah, again, like I said, it was just a celebration and and just a fun time all the way around. So I uh I loved it a hundred percent. I think that's the thing, just kind of and I think just cultures blending together, you know, and just coming together in life and and just uh impacting people around you, which was you know amazing. So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_05 30:48

Yeah, it was so great, and it makes it makes it easy when her family is so extroverted, like as you can see in her dad, he doesn't care. I mean, he also gave like a 20-minute speech in Portuguese. I felt bad for her cousin who had a I forgot about that.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

I forgot about that. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 31:07

He just decided that moment that he wanted to say something, so and then called my cousin, he's like, You're gonna translate for me. So my poor cousin had no idea that was coming.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Yeah, that's awesome. I forgot about that. That's right, yeah. Well, so then, so I would I only get to this because this is a fun part. So I I I can't remember when it was, it's been a while back, but I just was trying to build social media, and I just was I thought I've got all this content from all these weddings, and I just need to start using some of it. So I literally one night before going to bed, I came to your video of your first dance. Of uh, and so and and I want you guys to tell the story because I I don't want to I don't want to give it, but I so I posted your video and and then just went to sleep. I I didn't think anything about it, and then the next morning uh I woke up. So I'm gonna show it. And for you guys that are listening online or do Spotify and iTunes, we're gonna explain what's going on here. But I want to show the video because it ended up my phone was going nuts the next morning. And then I and to be honest, I was like, crap, I I didn't realize it was gonna do that. I didn't even ask them if I could do this. So this is it, right? So then I pushed this thing, and it's so beautiful. I mean, even at the end, you know, when you do the dip and Gabby's hair is flying, and then you look at her. So it was, and then I woke up the next morning and my phone was going nuts with views and people watching this thing and just overwhelming. But tell us about how this even happened because this story, in and of itself, it's the dance from high school musical, right?

SPEAKER_00 33:28

So um, so I've always been a huge high school musical fan since I was little, and whenever I had my quinceneira, because that's a custom in Brazil, all my friends were doing this dance for their quincene era, and I was like, I don't want to do this dance with someone that I'm not gonna be with for the rest of my life because that's how important this dance is to me. I know Linda thinks it's silly, but that's not silly at all.

SPEAKER_01 33:57

I don't think that's silly at all, I think it's great.

SPEAKER_00 33:59

Yeah, so I decided that I was not gonna do it my quincinera and I was gonna do it my wedding day. So whenever Lee proposed to me and we started planning this wedding and everything, I told him, I'm like, our first dance has to be can I have the dance basket music? Can we have to do the choreography?

SPEAKER_05 34:15

Like, I like she told me this early, so I had never watched high school musical. Um, that thought it was great, and I thought this dance was really amazing too when I first watched it on the movie. But she gave me quite a bit of uh of head time, so I I knew I knew that okay, I gotta learn this dance. I watched it, I'm like, this is gonna be hard, but I can learn it by the time that we get married. Um, but sure enough, that day crept up, man, and uh I we hadn't even practiced it yet. Uh sorry to get my laptop charger real quick. I'll be right back. I'll keep it on the side.

SPEAKER_00 34:50

Um, so basically, we started from the beginning trying to learn this dance, and the beginning was pretty like easy, it was just this two steps. Um had a hard time doing the jumps and everything. So we basically learned this whole dance the day before the wedding. We stayed up we stayed up until um like 2 a.m. doing over and over and over again. And there is there there are videos of showing how we were in the beginning of the night, how we were at the end of the night. So it really was like a one night thing that I put it on him. He couldn't even sleep the night because he was so worried about the sands.

SPEAKER_05 35:31

I was showing you this. Um, I mean, we we practiced a little bit in our apartment, um, you know, a few like two times maybe, and I got the general moves. But the night prior to our wedding, we stayed up practicing and it was going bad. Like I was stepping on her toes. I didn't know all that, y'all. I didn't know that. If you couldn't tell by my eyes, I looked so tired the next day. But um, and we had a we had people watching us practice, and it made it even more scary. I was I was so nervous. Um, the part where I pick her up, like I kept picking her off center and I was dropping her. Um, and it it was uh it was just it, I felt like it was gonna be a mess. And at some point it was maybe 2:30 at uh 2 30 in the morning. I said, It clicked, baby, this is this is either it's just gonna happen, let's just let it happen. I don't want to worry, I don't want to, you know, be too anxious on the day of the wedding, and we just said we'll wing it.

SPEAKER_01 36:30

And um it turned out oh it turned out much better than we practiced, dude. Unbelievable. I mean, to I to be honest, truthfully honest with you guys, I didn't I knew that you had learned it, but I I don't I had forgotten forgotten that it was the night before. I mean, I didn't I didn't realize that, and I think that's the biggest thing in the comments. First of all, y'all nailed it. It was the lifts were perfect and everything and the twirls, and I mean it just was gorgeous, you know. And um, and I'll tell you this, Lee, I've seen so many of the comments where they're like, you know, what a trooper you are, right? To be able to step into that and yeah, you know, and just to be willing to do that with Gabby and to let her dream come true. Because I'm telling you, there are tons of people on those comments that are like, you know, just yeah, you inspired a lot of people, right?

SPEAKER_05 37:18

I I read them too, man. Um, off your page. I've showed so many people your your page, uh, just like showing off the that dance video. Yeah, uh, but I was reading the comments and it was it was kind of funny to see all the the the target, the audience said it hid high school musical fans. They were just so so much about it, and then of course it gets to the other side, and I saw some guys over there. Oh, what I don't even remember what they said, but it it was such it was such um a trip reading out uh the comments, all all of the uh the high school musical fans, and to be uh shocked by six million or what is it, five point nine million dude. That's right, wild.

SPEAKER_01 37:58

And that's just on TikTok. I mean, I think I just had reposted it because my Instagram, my my hitch has been Instagram back in the summer, I had like 200 followers, I think like 280. And then we've been trying to build that. But the way I'm building it was with stories, and I haven't even looked recently to look even on Instagram, but it had it's jumped up to I think I don't remember, maybe close to a million. But um I think the thing that I love about it was first of all, it was a you know, you made it happen, you know, it was a a dream, and I love what you said, Gabby, about the fact that people were doing it their kitten nettas. I don't think I really I never say that word right, but um, you know, and what a great statement that I didn't want to do it with someone that I didn't want to do that dance with someone just to do it. I wanted it to be my first dance at my wedding, and so you know, even as a teenager, you're you're dreaming of that moment, yeah. And then that was the thing that I honestly I didn't even see many of the negative comments to be honest with you guys, but the thing that I saw overwhelmingly was the fact that a dream, you know, dream dance, and you guys made it happen, even if you had to stay up till 2 30 in the morning today. But I didn't we did make it happen.

SPEAKER_05 39:08

It's there, I'm not gonna lie though, there was a couple times I said, Hey, maybe we should switch it up, and she made it very clear. Oh no, like no, I have been in this wedding day. I'm like, okay, at at some point I realized, like, yo, I gotta bite down on my mouthpiece, and we're we're gonna have to get this done. So yeah, I'm so grateful, you know. The day of again, I was so nervous the night before, but my friends were hooting and hollering and hyping us up. As soon as the game started, they're screaming like, woo! Yeah, that by the time when the lifts happened, I mean, we we felt that everyone was just there for the moment.

SPEAKER_01 39:47

You were in the zone, you guys were in you guys were flowing so well at that point, it was perfect, and and for me too, like there's so often that you know, I don't catch moments, you know, on video, but for whatever reason, right? I just I caught that moment, and of course, you guys have another video that that's a that that people can see, like a closer view of it where you guys are you know as well. But it was just a beautiful moment, and I think that's the thing, and it just typified it was a reflection of the whole day, you know, it was just a flow, and I believe uh to me, and I want you guys to kind of speak to this as well, but just suggesting to other couples. I say this all the time, and I truly mean it. It's your day, you know, make it what you guys want it to be, right? Because so often I'll have couples say, Well, what do you think? And I'm like, Well, I can give you input, right? But at the end of the day, it needs to be your choice, and too often I believe that couples allow voices outside of their own relationship to dictate what they do, and they shouldn't do that, you know, it needs to be themselves. I mean, you guys would agree with that, yeah?

SPEAKER_04 40:57

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:59

And I think that's you know, important. So as you kind of look back, what advice, you know, and I kind of know some of this, but what advice as far as couples getting married and getting ready to get married? I think the question I sent you guys is what would you suggest? Where do you where do you make your your investments, you know, and what do you invest in financially, but then also what do you invest in emotionally and and relationally? What are the most important things that you look back that you're thankful? Hey, I'm glad we invested in this. Obviously, the dance. We reveal that one, right? That was huge. What are some other things that you would suggest as we kind of close this thing down for their wedding day?

SPEAKER_00 41:35

I would say, do you want to start?

SPEAKER_05 41:37

Uh, I will, I mean, we've talked a little bit about investing in in each other, is is so important. Also, your their families. Um, it's been such a pleasure to see, you know, Gabby's relationship with my um, like with my mom and um, you know, all of my family members grow. Um, I was so nervous to introduce them, you know. Uh, she again, she was new here, didn't hardly speak English. She spoke English.

SPEAKER_00 42:00

I spoke English, but but it wasn't that great.

SPEAKER_05 42:05

Investing in each other's families, talking um with them, attempting to get close. I mean, like, like I said, she talks to her parents every day. Um try my best to join uh when I can. Sometimes they're happy.

SPEAKER_01 42:21

But what else you got, baby?

SPEAKER_00 42:23

Um, I'll say, in terms of like investments, I'm really glad that we had honestly a great DJ because you can tell this is important for like the party moment. That's where people are gonna have the most fun. Like before, like, yeah, the ceremony is beautiful, the dinner is nice, but the party moment that's when you really see them having fun and with everybody's together. So I'm really glad we had a great DJ to provide the moment. Um, I think food is also really important um to have to like have an investment in the wedding, um, in the sense that you know that's that's that's I don't know, that's an important part for hundred percent. Yeah, I think you don't want to have a dinner where people are not either full enough or they're like they're just not enjoying the food, like nobody wants to eat something they don't enjoy. So I think those yeah, those two those two things were um places that we put more money towards and we were really happy with the result. Um, a videographer too, like recording the whole moment so you can relive it forever. That was also really important to us. So I'd say, in terms of financial um commitment, I would say those things are very important for a wedding.

SPEAKER_01 43:38

Yeah, awesome. I agree. And I think the two, like you talked about the photo booth, you know, kind of finding your elements that you want that will add to your day, you know, at the at the end of it all, because um, you know, it makes a difference. And everybody has a budget, right? And everybody has a a direction that they need to go. I tell people all the time that you know, to To really choose together what you want, you know, for your wedding day because it makes such a big difference. And and then the end result is we get to talk about it like we're talking about like you know with you guys. So hey, do y'all have do y'all have the ceremony itself on video?

unknown 44:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 44:19

I'm sure we have the whole thing.

SPEAKER_00 44:20

Yeah, we uh we actually pay to have the whole thing, so we do. It's in a hard drive that we have to find it, but we do.

SPEAKER_01 44:27

I would love to have that. Yeah, we'll send it to you, and you're you're welcome to use it for whatever you need. Um well, just to yeah, uh that's great. Well, first of all, it's just a great ceremony, and you're everything was great about it. So anyway, well, thank you guys for doing this. I truly, I mean, honestly, uh uh your love for each other is evident. Just and I know life's you know, life's not perfect, right? We have our moments, we have our disagreements, we have you know, you know, all that, but I think going back to what we said, just the power of just your your meeting and your relationship and how you came together and your family and just everything about it. And um, excuse me, but just that one point of just communicating with each other, it's evident. So I'm just so thankful to have you guys on. It's so truly like seeing you guys pop up on the screen this morning was just like joy because you guys are a blessing to me. Yeah, and a blessing to me. Yeah, a hundred percent. I love talking about you guys.

SPEAKER_05 45:26

Thank you so much, man. And it it means a lot that you invited us on here, and um, thank you for being a part of our day. But like Abby said, man, it was incredibly special. Um, largely thanks to you and your work and everything you did for us, um, the things you wrote. So, um, dude, so thank you. Thank you, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 45:45

It's it's definitely an honor. So, well, listen, if you guys haven't seen the video and you're listening, you should go check it out. It's on my hitch and spin. Uh oh, and you know what too, Lee? I didn't say this. I meant to say this earlier, but dude, you can sing. Oh, dude. Thanks, man. I I said I think Gabby, I was like, Steven follows me on TikTok. We followed. 100%. Yeah, dude. You you have a great voice and you're great on the guitar as well. Oh, dude, man. Everybody needs to follow Lee and Gabby too.

SPEAKER_05 46:14

I don't really, but it's something I did when I was a lot younger.

SPEAKER_01 46:18

Uh, dude, well, just to encourage you, don't don't be shy on that. You have a great voice. Oh, dude, thank you, man. You're in that right, Gabby.

SPEAKER_00 46:26

Yeah, absolutely. That's actually one of the first things that's on his Instagram was that he was musical.

SPEAKER_05 46:32

She's she's musical, dude. She can really play the piano and sing as well. Wait a minute.

SPEAKER_00 46:37

Seriously, yeah, not as much. I actually stopped piano classes when I was 17 because I got really bad attendonitis. Um, so I cannot do what I used to do. But I remember music was a big part of my life and seeing Lee on Instagram that he was involved with music. I think the first post that he had online was um him playing guitar. It was really very important for our relationship as well.

SPEAKER_01 47:01

That's awesome. Well, I love it. I love following you. I love it when you post something and you're singing. I think I'll have to post something for you. Sounds good. All right. Well, hey, you hang tight. I'm gonna be back here. I'll bring you guys back on here in a minute. We'll we'll say goodbye, but I'm gonna close this out. But thank you guys again.

SPEAKER_00 47:16

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 47:17

Thanks for sharing your story and just sharing uh your history and just getting some some thoughts for other couples. So of course anyway, hang tight. All right, guys. Thank you guys for joining. As you can see, it uh was awesome. It's just a great comp a great couple, and they are are definitely a blessing to me. So uh and I hope that that was a blessing to you guys as well. So hey, follow us on Hitch and Spin at Hitch and Spin, it's on Instagram. Uh my TikTok's not under my hitch and spin, but you can find it, so I'm not, it's under my name. But uh we're glad to listen if you're looking for somebody and holler at us, but the biggest deal, hey, it's your day, it's your story, and you make it about what you want it to be more than anything. All right. So hey, I'm Steven. Thanks for joining in. Share this, do subscribe, like, share it if you will. Trying to build something. We just want people to have a forum to be able to tell their stories and for you guys to get to hear amazing stories as well. All right. So, hey, we'll take you out with this little song that my son wrote, and we hope to see you next time. I'll uh uh be alert and um we'll share some more with you later, right?

SPEAKER_03 48:21

Blessings, okay.