11.16.2024

We’re celebrating two things on this date: (1) the exchanging of our vows, and (2) our 17th anniversary. If you can join us for any part of this, please let us know! We’d love to have you. If you can’t, catch up with us in 2025, when we celebrate 18 years of being together.

Schedule

2:30 PM – WITNESS OUR VOWS
St. Peter’s Chapel, 1181 Walnut Ave, Vallejo’s Mare Island

We’ll exchange our vows in a short ceremony in the oldest naval chapel in the U.S., on historic Mare Island.

3-4 PM – TEA & CAKE RECEPTION
Alden Park (weather permitting), 8th St, Vallejo’s Mare Island

Enjoy refreshments in the unforgettable macabre World War II military sculpture garden that is Alden Park.

5:30 PM – ANNIVERSARY TOAST & GRUB
Red Men’s Hall, 431 Georgia St, downtown Vallejo

Join us to toast our relationship the way we have for the past 12 years — with whiskey, pizza, and something good on screen.

LATER – A NIGHT ON THE TOWN
Town House Cocktail Lounge, 401a Georgia St, downtown Vallejo

The Town House is our go-to Saturday night spot for karaoke and drag. When we’re all receptioned out, we’ll head down the street for a night on the town.

R.S.V.P.

F.A.Q.

What is the attire for the day?

We will be wearing suits, vests and ties for the ceremony, but we’ll be on the casual end of the suiting spectrum. We expect to either change clothes or at least shed our vests and jackets for the anniversary toasts, so if you’re staying for the festivities, feel free to prioritize comfort over formality.

The weather in Vallejo on Saturday the 16th is expected to be in the low ’60s / upper ’50s during the day, and the forecast says it could get as chilly as 39º at night. So layering is a good idea, especially if you’re riding with us through evening!

We might recommend a stroll along Alden Park — or for hikers, the Mare Island Heritage Preserve Trail — as or after we nosh on tea and cake, in which case, comfy walking shoes would be useful.

What about gifts? What do you need?

When this year transforms into a cloud of memories, we won’t be able to forget that while we were celebrating an occasion of tremendous joy, Gazans were being forcibly starved and massacred across the world, and the dwindling numbers of journalists chronicling the immiseration were doing so at tremendous risk to their lives. If you have the capacity to give, it would honor us if you direct gifts to Operation Olive Branch, which has been helping direct aid to individual Palestinian families in need.

Beyond that, if you would like to give to us, we don’t have a registry, but we do have Venmo (@mthomps00) and Cash app ($mthomps0)! Our hope is to be able to toast our 18th anniversary in our backyard at our house, and any gifts will go directly to the house beautification fund.

Can I help out with the celebration in any other way?

If you live nearby and can offer our out-of-town guests a ride from Mare Island to downtown Vallejo, please let us know (wedding@mattandbryan.com).