“The wedding itself, the day itself, went so fast, but I was so happy to have all the people that I love there,” Alan says. “I guess one of the moments that I really enjoyed was when we turned around once the ceremony was complete, I looked out to the audience and the amount of smiles that were facing back at me just really warmed my heart. I’ll remember that particular sight as long as I live.”
Alan Harris, who is an emergency manager, and Erik Olsson, a health programs manager, have a long history, dating back to 2006 when they first met through a mutual friend. Alan was invited to a party by a friend, and it turned out it wasn’t as much a party as it was a political event. Alan was not really into politics, but he saw Erik there and they started chatting. They listened to the speech but afterwards became more acquainted and decided to go out on a date.
“Obviously, I thought he was attractive, but the conversation just flowed and I’m not normally one for small talk at parties,” Erik says. “Actually, after the fact, maybe a month or two later, another mutual friend who was at the party said that from a distance you could actually see sparks flying.”
They dated for about a year before they moved in together, and then they were together for another two years. Erik was wrapping up school, and he wasn’t in the stage of his life, he says, where he wanted to settle down.
For the five-year period they were a part, Erik lived in several different cities across the U.S. and Alan stayed in Orlando and built up his career. They had very little contact over those five years, yet they reconnected when Erik moved back to Orlando and they saw each other at an event.
At that point, Erik says he didn’t expect them to get right back together, but he missed his friendship, so they started hanging out again, and it grew eventually from there.
Alan says the first year of them being back together was rocky. About two months into them dating, he went to the doctor and found out he was going to need open-heart surgery. He says Erik stuck by him through the surgery and afterward when he had to go through months of therapy.
“It was amazing how he came back into my life right at that particular moment and time when I really needed that person, that partner, to help me in that way – it was really a gift,” Alan says.
Alan says he bought the ring a while before he proposed and had it with him awaiting the perfect time and moment to ask Erik, but it never came. It wasn’t until when they were on a vacation in Atlanta when he decided there’s never going to be a perfect time, so he decided to ask him on that trip – and despite never finding that perfect moment, Erik describes the proposal as “perfect” to him.
Their wedding was something they both planned together, but they wanted it to be something that fit both of them and wasn’t too over the top. Erik says the most nerve-racking thing was making sure they didn’t forget to do something, because going through with the actual wedding was the easy part.
YEARS TOGETHER: 10 years
ENGAGEMENT DATE: September 1, 2014
WEDDING DATE: October 23, 2015
WEDDING VENUE: The Acre Orlando
WEDDING PLANNER: Carolina Torres
WEDDING CATERER: Bjoely Event Services
WEDDING THEME/COLORS: The theme was country and the colors were orange and blue.
FIRST SONG: “This is Who We Are” by Blake McIver
INTERESTING FACT: They were together for three years, apart for five with little contact and then reunited in 2013.
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