(Rugrats logo song)
(upbeat song)
- And the whole time I couldn't look away from Max,
and my heart was beating as loud as a rocket ship.
- You both had to face the other,
and then the officiant started to speak.
And here comes the question where the answer is.
- A wedding day, the happiest day of any couple's life.
My mom woke me up really early
in the morning, too early (scoffs) mom.
She took me to the hairdresser,
and then to go get my makeup done,
and then they also bathed me.
And then this happened.
♪ Just my recipe for instant bride ♪
♪ You'll bring honor to us all ♪
- Okay, well, that's not exactly how it happened.
In the actuality, I had to do my own hair and makeup
like an absolute peasant.
But in all honesty,
getting married was never really in the cards for me,
Seeing as I grew up in a religious family
slash community slash country.
So even thinking about having a gay wedding is
so outside the realm of reality,
like a reality TV star becoming president, you know,
just completely absurd, but alas, it did happen.
And I'm very glad that it did.
I think of the very many terrible decisions
that I've made throughout my journey to adulthood,
and this ended up being one of the best decisions
I've ever made question mark?
Anyway, thank you, Surfshark for sponsoring today's video,
where I get to share my wedding story with all of you guys.
I wish I could sit here and tell you guys
that I had all of this planned out
and that we made the decision after much thoughtful time
and consideration with pie charts
and spreadsheets and pros and cons lists.
But at the end of the day,
we'd only been dating for about seven months
when Max popped the question.
So it wasn't exactly logical, it was pure emotion.
We both knew that it was the only way
that we could stay together
because of my immigration status in the United States.
So thankfully, I can proudly say
that we both married for love,
and it worked out didn't it, question mark?
The proposal, much like the wedding, was very simple.
There was no kneeling on one knee or big diamond ring.
It was simply a question that he asked
while we were in bed getting ready to sleep.
And now, thinking about it,
that was how you asked me to be his boyfriend as well.
So maybe that's just the moments
where he feels the most romantic.
I don't know, but that's how he proposed.
And I said, yes, I will move to Canada with you.
Mind you, the proposal was like a double whammy.
There was one, will you spend the rest of your life with me?
And two, will you leave New York and come to Canada with me
where you'll receive permanent residency
and eventually citizenship.
And at that moment,
while I was struggling with my immigration status
in the States, was music in my ears.
Literally Beethoven having a full blown concert in my head.
It was only a couple of weeks after the proposal
that the wedding happened.
There wasn't much of a prep involved other than paperwork
because we didn't really plan
on like a big gay wedding ceremony
with swans and magicians.
They don't do magicians at weddings, Yos.
That's a children's birthday party.
So because we just moved to Canada from the United States,
we're not really able to watch all the content
we used to watch from the streaming services here.
- But we've been using Surfshark every day
during the pandemic,
and our media library basically became unlimited.
- Surfshark is an app and browser extension
that basically lets you place your laptop and phone
anywhere in the world.
This lets you unblock websites and content
that you normally wouldn't be able to see.
For example, one of our favorite films
"Call Me by Your Name" is not available
in the Canadian Netflix,
but it only takes a few clicks for us
to watch it on the UK Netflix, where it is available.
- Use Surfshark so that you can access content
as if you were in a different country,
just change your location,
and you can access a bunch of different streaming services.
For example, Netflix or Amazon.
- Now we can watch Elio play with his peach.
Once you're signed up,
you can use Surfshark on unlimited devices,
and so you can protect
as many devices as you want at once.
- So use our code maxandyos,
and get 85% off plus an extra three months for free.
- Surfshark offers a 30 day money back guarantee.
So there's really no risk to try it out for yourself.
Link is going to be in the description below.
So now back towards story time.
And then come the wedding day.
Our wedding day, much like our brain,
was a very simple affair.
We had what's called a tasteful city hall wedding.
I'll be completely honest here.
A city hall wedding is much like
ordering food from a fast food chain,
but instead of getting burgers and fries and a happy meal,
you get an adult human for life.
But unlike a fast food restaurant,
you get to wear a crisp white dress shirt and a tux.
But I didn't actually wear a tux because I couldn't find one
that fit me properly because I'm built like a branch,
and we didn't have time to get one tailored for me.
So I guess for me,
there's really not much of a difference
between my wedding day and going to McDonald's.
Since I wasn't wearing a tux anyway,
I decided to keep it simple and kind of messy and casual.
And this definitely helped me become a lot less anxious
than I actually was because in general,
I'm just more of a Casual Conor than a Suit-Up Steve.
Max went with the navy blue tux,
and he passed on the tie to match
that casual vibe we kind of had going on.
Sort of like, yo, we're about to get married.
So what?
'Cause you know, our vibe is just completely punk rock.
So this day would not have happened,
at least not in the way that it did,
if it weren't because of my best friend Yi Fan.
She played a huge role in our wedding day.
She played the part of maid of honor, event planner,
florist, photographer, caterer, stylist,
emotional support sister,
and all around amazing human being.
She was there through it all, dealing with my bridezilla tendencies.
(growls) I want everything to be perfect.
You know, actually, no, I was not like that.
I was super chill, and I was just happy to be there.
So the plan was that we were going to meet Yi Fan
at city hall for our appointment with Cupid.
As soon as we got there,
Yi Fan presented us
with the cutest little flower arrangement, bouquet.
And then after that we hugged, we laughed,
we cried, but most importantly,
I have to remind her that she was there for a job,
and that was to be our professional photographer
on top of all the responsibilities that we put on her.
I'm completely kidding.
I'm eternally grateful for her.
She made the days so special for us,
and I hope that one day, we can return the favor to her.
So as soon as we arrived to city hall,
we did all the paperwork.
And then we stood in line
where we got ready for the ceremony.
- So I remember when we arrived at the city hall,
it was pretty much like going to the DMV,
it was really bureaucratic,
and we had to file paperwork, get a number.
But I was so nervous.
My heart was beating out of my chest,
and I was smiling like crazy
'cause I was going to be the happiest man
in the world at that time.
- All the married to be couples were asked
to wait in a fluorescent lit room
before going to the other room,
which is where the actual ceremony will be taking place.
- It started getting official in my mind
when we were both signing our name on the form
and then our name was called out,
and we had to be moved to that other room,
waiting for the ceremony.
- You know when you were at a theme park,
and you're about to go on a ride,
and you're waiting in this room filled with strangers,
and you just know something special is going to happen.
That was pretty much the same feeling.
It was the exact same butterflies.
Max and I were the only gay couple there,
and everyone was staring at us.
- And people were kind of looking at us funny.
I remember there was a bunch
of older couple in there waiting,
and they were kind of looking at us funny
because we looked kind of young getting married.
- So I could tell that it was
becoming increasingly uncomfortable for the both of us.
So we both kind of just zoned in on each other
and pretended like we were the only ones in the room,
gazing into each other's eyes and thinking,
oh my God, we're about to get married.
- And then finally, the time came that
they called our name, walked into the room.
- This is where everything sort
of started blacking out for me.
- And that's where everything becomes a blur.
- I remember entering the room with Max,
and then Yi Fan following us
with her long cocktail dress
and her three duffel bags and big DSLR camera.
They closed the door behind us,
so there was only us and the marriage officiant in the room.
- At the end, there's a podium
and there's the officiant right there
asking if we have the rings,
put it there, and there it starts.
- And then I remember it
being extremely quiet and super zen.
And the whole time I couldn't look away from Max.
- I remember you looking stunning.
I remember thinking to myself that, wow,
I'm like the luckiest guy in the world right now.
- And my heart was beating as loud as a rocket ship.
- You both have to face the other,
and hold your hands together,
and then the officiant start to speak,
and here comes the question
where the answer is "I do."
- And then it was my turn say "I do."
And then I did.
- And I remember like at that exact moment,
looking at the Yos's face,
we were smiling like stupid
we were like, I guess this is happening, but we're so happy.
We were laughing at each other because of the nervousness.
- It's a strange feeling
because I know that only few seconds had passed,
but I really felt it deep in here.
I knew that from that moment on,
my life was going to be different.
- And I put the ring on the Yos's finger,
holding his hand, smiling at him.
I'm about to shed tears.
And he then put the ring on my finger
and the officiant then said,
"That's it, I declare you now married."
- After the ceremony, we hopped
on an Uber to go to a restaurant called Rosemary's.
We wanted to wind down a bit,
have a glass of wine after all of that emotional warfare.
We had cheese and bread and wine.
And then we took a bunch of photos
at Washington Square Park in the pouring rain.
We also took a lot of photos on a Polaroid camera.
I really wanted something physical
to keep as a memento for the wedding.
Polaroids are so personal,
and I feel like there's always some sort of connection
between the photographer and the subject.
There's just something extra special about having a friend
or loved one take that imperfect Polaroid photo
that's overexposed and strangely composed.
We held our mini reception,
if you can even call it that,
at this French Moroccan fusion restaurant called Claudette.
We had a very, very small reception
because I don't have a ton of friends in New York,
and the ones that I did have,
they were mostly international students.
So they were mostly gone for the summer.
I loved that it was small though.
And I would describe the reception as vibey.
And there was this interesting ambience
that I think I felt throughout the night.
We ended the wedding day going to karaoke
in Chinatown with all our guests.
We got really drunk,
and then we all went our separate ways,
except now me and Max were man and man.
What do you say when men wed?
Men and men, husband and husband.
So that was our wedding day, simple and small,
but no less filled with love.
♪ I've been lying here for too long ♪
♪ I don't know what else to do ♪
♪ I wanna get away from every little thing ♪
♪ Just to try to make it through ♪
♪ I've been thinking about my options ♪
♪ Every detail in my head ♪
♪ But it doesn't really matter ♪
♪ Nothing matters so I cry instead ♪
♪ I've been running circles ♪
♪ Trying to catch my breath ♪
♪ I've been trying everything I can ♪