Ah, young love. Often characterised by high drama and intensity, most high school relationships aren’t built to last. This couple, however, always knew that they were meant to be. So much so that five years before they even got engaged, they wrote their wedding vows and stored them for safe keeping inside Build-a-Bears.
Back in 2014, high school sweethearts Alyssa and Chase Smagacz went on a Valentines Day date to Build-a-Bear in celebration of their one-year anniversary. Chase had the idea that they should each write promises to the other person and stuff them inside their bears. Five years later, those exact promises became their wedding vows.
The night before their wedding, they took turns to read the messages to each other in private at their wedding rehearsal. Then at the wedding, they read them out in front of their closest friends and family, along with a new set of vows.
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“Through the rough times we’ve had, we always come out stronger together. No matter what I will always love you. Through the thick & thin, good or bad, you will be the love of my life,” Chase wrote in his vows. “You make me the happiest person in the world!”
Watch the heartwarming video below:
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The vows, which were a complete surprise to their wedding guests, proved to Alyssa and Chase that the journey was all worth it, despite what people told them.
“We felt very doubted in high school as everyone thinks it’s just like a relationship that’ll last through high school,” Alyssa told Good Morning America. “When we got to open (the Build-A-Bears), it was kind of like, ‘OK, we made it here.'”
Image: Instagram / Alyssa Smagacz
