Life is transformation. We are stripped, fragmented, and fractured into our many moving parts time and time again. We are the watchers from within, sitting front row to experience the ever-changing nature of the Universe. This change, this pattern, shows itself throughout our external world. Indigenous people believe ferns represent new beginnings. The dense ferns that draped the entire forest floor on our first camping trip were present in the many unfolding moments of Us that followed. Our story is powerful, and the symbolic journey we see and feel reminds us that the world is alive and breathing.
After getting engaged in November 2024, we had just two months to plan our Colorado elopement. We wanted go on a short getaway that wasn’t too far from home in the Smoky Mountains, a place where we could focus on each other and create from our connection. We were looking for a space that would inspire us as we wrote our ceremony script and figured out how to photograph and film our own adventure wedding. In our search, we discovered the perfect cabin in the woods—one that symbolized so much more than just its beauty, representing the story of becoming Us. There could not have been a better, more intentional place than the Black Fern Treehouse.
We spent three days playing a couples card game, having pillow fights, relaxing in the hot tub, dancing, laughing, crying, snuggling in the outdoor bed, and binge-watching Stranger Things on Netflix late into the night while pretending to be fancy in our bathrobes. It was the perfect space to truly be ourselves and celebrate the path that led us to this point—”tying the knot.”
Tying The Pieces Together
Ferns have been a part of our story long before we even met, relevant in many ways that brought us together. The first time I (Julie) felt drawn to a fern was on a solo hike in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Years later, I shared a photo of that fern on Instagram, paired with the first poem I ever wrote. It was my comeback after a social media wipeout—an act of transformation. The poem spoke about unlocking my truth, which would eventually lead me to the person I was meant to find. It was a proclamation of what I knew our future together would be: a sacred song, two souls fully awakened.
In the book that led him to me, I matched another fern photo from a hike on Hawksbill Mountain Trail with a poem I wrote specifically calling out to my person. He felt my energy when he read the words appearing on page 111. In fact, he told his dear friend that he was going to marry me, not having even spoken to me yet.
Two years into our relationship, I decided to ink the symbolism of Us onto my hands: a daisy on my left ring finger to represent my feminine side, and a fern on my right to symbolize his masculine—nonetheless, a black fern, so of course this cabin made sense to be where we start creating the next chapter in our story. The way we navigate the world is strongly intentional, always guided by messages we feel deep within.
Our internal compass guided us Home.
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