Smith-Hernandez Wedding
Donation protected
Once upon a time...
I (AJ) and Niel met at the 2012 Zumba Convention in Orlando, FL for Zumba instructors. It was quite the event filled with music, dancing, and theme parties.
A the time, Niel lived in Seattle, WA: I lived in Great Falls, MT. Our encounter became a long distance relationship for a few months until I was able to move to Seattle to be with Niel since living in Seattle as a gay couple is much easier than it would have been in Great Falls. At first, we planned to live separately but life had different plans and we ended up moving in together at the last minute with one other person. Our relationship matured rather quickly experiencing the usual growing pains that couples go through, especially since we work in different professions. Niel can be gone for days at a time working as a flight attendant: I can get turned around after working a stretch of nights as an RN. We now rent a place of our own living with two adorable kitties.
For our wedding, we chose not move forward with a gift registry and instead have this fundraising account. Our reasons are:
1. We prefer to continue to make more memories and experiences by travelling and sharing them with our family and friends. Participating in the Disney World Wine and Dine Festival and Half Marathon as well as going to Disneyland-Paris are a couple of examples.
2. We really do have more than what we need. In fact, we are still downsizing our belongings after moving into our apartment over 2 years ago – most of it is mine.
3. We wanted to have one main gifting venue anyone could access from anywhere to show their support of our marriage if they wanted to give us a gift.

The fundraising goal is just a number. We value your love, support, and relationship more.
Hugs,
AJ and Niel

I (AJ) and Niel met at the 2012 Zumba Convention in Orlando, FL for Zumba instructors. It was quite the event filled with music, dancing, and theme parties.
A the time, Niel lived in Seattle, WA: I lived in Great Falls, MT. Our encounter became a long distance relationship for a few months until I was able to move to Seattle to be with Niel since living in Seattle as a gay couple is much easier than it would have been in Great Falls. At first, we planned to live separately but life had different plans and we ended up moving in together at the last minute with one other person. Our relationship matured rather quickly experiencing the usual growing pains that couples go through, especially since we work in different professions. Niel can be gone for days at a time working as a flight attendant: I can get turned around after working a stretch of nights as an RN. We now rent a place of our own living with two adorable kitties. For our wedding, we chose not move forward with a gift registry and instead have this fundraising account. Our reasons are:1. We prefer to continue to make more memories and experiences by travelling and sharing them with our family and friends. Participating in the Disney World Wine and Dine Festival and Half Marathon as well as going to Disneyland-Paris are a couple of examples.
2. We really do have more than what we need. In fact, we are still downsizing our belongings after moving into our apartment over 2 years ago – most of it is mine.3. We wanted to have one main gifting venue anyone could access from anywhere to show their support of our marriage if they wanted to give us a gift.
The fundraising goal is just a number. We value your love, support, and relationship more.
Hugs,
AJ and Niel
Organizer
AJ HernandezJr
Organizer
DesMoines, WA
Begin your fundraising journey
