Group photo just after our acid ceremony at The Monastery, 2022.

In August of 2022, David and I were at The Monastery Festival (by The Gardens of Babylon, Amsterdam based music community where we met a lot of our friends and the reason we ended up there). We kicked off Sunday afternoon with a beautiful acid ceremony (now a tradition) before we all dispersed to prance around for the rest of the day.

Near the end of our acid trip, David and I sat outside one of the stages and reminisced about how far we’ve come since we left NYC to nomad. In 2018, we found The Gardens through SoundCloud and decided to go to Amsterdam for one of the parties. That party turned out to be Seekers of Light during ADE.

The following year in 2019, we discovered intentional partying, became part of a community brought together by music that we adored. That year, we went to Monastery, Burning Man, and Wonderfruit for the first time and finally understood what it meant to find our tribe.

It was only after discovering Amsterdam that we discovered true friendships. Having moved around for most of our lives, we never really had “real friends” that felt like family. This period marked a before and after in our lives, and it wasn’t until then that we knew what it meant to live.

David and I got married during the pandemic to use each other’s passports and never celebrated the occasion. One day, I asked how we can bring our friends to our then-favorite festival, Wonderfruit (Thailand in December). He said, “Just tell everyone we’re getting married there, and everyone will come.” Genius idea! I thought. In 2022, when Wonderfruit announced they were happening again, we told our friends we were getting married there, and they started booking it. 🙂

At the Monastery, when we were reminiscing and expressing gratitude for our community and each other, we realized how surprising it was that everyone who was going to Wonderfruit to celebrate our wedding was someone we met in the last 3 years.

Our life together flashed before our eyes. We went from never feeling fully at home and accepted to being surrounded by awesome humans who made our life exciting. Every day became something to look forward to because we had each other and everyone else. It was humbling to know that we were experiencing a life that most people can only dream about.

At that moment, David looked at me and said, “It’s you and me against the world….But wait! Why does it have to be me and you against the world? What is a world without our friends? It should be you and me with the world!’ This quote was even more appropriate given how we had started that day with our chosen family.

Our wedding reception group photo at Wonderfruit, 2022.

On his birthday a month later, I got a tattoo on my forearm with “you and me with the world” and his name in Morse code underneath. A month later, he got the same on his arm. (I didn’t pressure him, I swear!!)

During our wedding reception at Wonderfruit, we told this story and had 53 of our friends open their gifts at the same time which was a gold bracelet with the image of our tattoo engraved. This quote is the exact one we wear on ourselves everyday, and will for the rest of our lives.

While others would consider our wedding as a celebration of our love for each other…to us, it was a celebration of the people we love who make us who we are. A celebration of our community that makes our lives worth living.

This gift is a reminder that they will always have community with us, and with each other. ❤️‍🔥

Over the last couple years, when we meet new friends that become fast friends, people we deeply connect with, we’ll tell them this story and gift them a bracelet.

Bruno, Marco, and Joao (3 of the 5 GOAT Festival founders) were in Amsterdam for the Butterflies party hosted by The Gardens of Babylon May 2024. That’s where we met and spent 2 inseparable days together. Before they flew back to Portugal, we shared this story with them.

Friends receiving their gifts at Wonderfruit, 2022.

Bruno with his gift, May 2024.

On the plane ride back, the boys decided they wanted to do something for us at GOAT, and the result was this “YOU AND ME WITH THE WORLD” sign at the front entrance. 🥹 This was the sweetest, most thoughtful surprise anyone has ever done for us. Remember, that this quote is about all of us coming together and creating magic.

Words cannot describe the energy, vibe, and love that we all felt at GOAT (July 2024). I think I speak for most people (if not everyone), that this was by far the best experience we’ve ever had anywhere.

I know there will be many more experiences and many more surprises to come. This is just the beginning. 💜

“You and me with the world” sign at the front entrance of GOAT, 2024.

Family photo at GOAT, 2024. If you missed it, you were in our hearts!

Thank you for being part of our community and our story.

💌 With love,

Melissa + David #youandmewiththeworld