Trenton ReynoldsThis is Room in the Trees, a podcast about living a creative life. Room in the Trees is hosted by Sabrina Ward-Harrison and me, Trent Reynolds.
Sabrina Ward Harrisonshow notes including pictures links video and more for every episode can be found at
Trenton Reynoldsroominthetrees.com if you like this podcast please consider showing your support you can become a subscribing patron at patreon.com forward slash room and now here's this week's episode today we have a special episode for you Sabrina got married to Sean McCabe on September 21st in Portland, Oregon. I was there, and it was every bit the amazing and affirming experience you would wish for. From my point of view, it was perfect. Perhaps the most satisfying part of the experience for me was to see how thoroughly in love Sean is with Sabrina. To see how well he treats her and how apparent, how obvious it is that they find joy in each other. They've each found their match. In this conversation, Sean, Sabrina, and I share some memories from that wonderful day.
Sabrina Ward HarrisonWe are here together. Here's Sean McCabe and Sabrina Ward-Harrison McCabe. How should we begin? First of all, just thank you for being such an amazing presence there for the ceremony.
Trenton ReynoldsOh, it was so much fun. And it was such a, it was a very filling experience for me. Just the distance from all the cares and concerns of my world and to be able to just enter in such a magical world. It really, I mean, there's no other word for it. It really was magical. The environment that you guys set up and you're so good at just creating an experience. And I don't know, it was, I left feeling rejuvenated and it was just really special to be part of that experience.
Sabrina Ward HarrisonWell, it was really meaningful having you there.
Trenton ReynoldsWhy don't we give a bit of a recap of what happened and how it happened and. I don't know if you guys heard the story about the bus. Did you hear the story about the bus? No. No. The majority, I think, of the wedding party, we all got on a bus that took us up to the Arboretum. I don't think we mentioned this is in Portland, Oregon. So we met in front of the hotel, great Russian, like thick Russian accent gentleman, had a lot of personality, was a lot of fun. But he was telling us that in the event that the bus tips over, what to do. And all of us were kind of getting the kick out of this, like, what is he talking about? Like if the bus tips over, what? But then we get, you know, we go toward the Arboretum. We start driving down these windy roads and it is like barely wide enough for the bus. And there was a couple of points when it kind of felt like the tires were struggling to keep on the road. Anyway, so the whole spiel about what to do with the bus turned over all of a sudden became very pertinent, you know. in all of our minds. But then he took a wrong turn.
Oh, no.
Trenton ReynoldsYeah. I don't know about any of this. Well, it's better that way. Anyway, he took a wrong turn, and he didn't want to go any further until he found out exactly where to go because the roads were... you know, so tight for the bus. Sure. Anyway, and none of us, he tried to call the wedding planner and the reception wasn't great and he didn't know exactly where he was. And anyway, it was kind of an ordeal. No way! Yeah, had you guys not heard? No, we have no idea about it. It all turned out for the best in the end, but we were all a little bit anxious just kind of sitting there for probably 15 minutes. Oh, my gosh. A long time, and we already knew we were on a fairly tight schedule just to get there in time. is he going to wait for somebody to actually drive up and get us? Anyway, it turns out I had a little bit of reception on my phone, was able to find a map of the Arboretum and type in Redwood platform. You're kidding. And luckily I had like one bar just on my phone and GPS came in and we found the Redwood platform. Oh, wow. saw the turn, the turn route. And it was like, you know, three minutes away. We were really, really close. He just didn't want to go any further with where we were going. Anyway, we turned the bus around and got on the right track. Pulled up. Wow. Yeah, it was kind of a trip. It was fairly uneventful except for that little hiccup, but we showed up just perfect timing. Everybody was walking down the path exactly when they-
Sabrina Ward HarrisonYeah, because I remember being in the SUV and seeing the shuttle come by us to park and like, "Here comes everybody."
Trenton ReynoldsYep. Yeah, it all went off without a hitch. It really did.
Sabrina Ward HarrisonWhat was it like with people in the van? Because it was a small wedding, so it was a small amount of people going.
Trenton ReynoldsYeah, it was great. I think Molly was with you, so I was talking to her husband. I didn't know it was her husband until... It's not her husband yet, but her partner, Robert. Yeah. Got it. Okay. I didn't know that they were together until I... after the fact, but he's a very cool guy. I mean, of course, everybody, everybody was really easy to get along with. Yeah, it was great. But then I had seen that the day before. Yeah, so I kind of knew what to expect. But even still, you know, walking down that path, the light at the time, what was it like four in the afternoon? 430. So the light coming in was just really soft and warm. And you know coming through these huge redwood trees and the smell was so earthy and rich and yeah there was people were just kind of you know walking slowly down this path and it was just kind of this a very calm I don't know. Calm is the word. Cozy. I mean, it wouldn't be Sabrina without being cozy. It was all cozy. That's maybe the best word for it. It was just like the extremity of coziness. Perfect temperature. And we also mentioned, too, that-
Sabrina Ward HarrisonYeah, it wasn't too hot. It wasn't too cold at all.
Trenton ReynoldsTwo days before it had been deluge downpour rain in Portland. So it was like the day right before the wedding when there was a rehearsal and the day of the wedding was gorgeous. It was bright blue skies, perfect weather. And it just could not have been, you know, any more ideal than it was. So yeah, we all got there we showed up we walked down you, you guys were I think still doing the tail end of your vows privately, and then we all got situated in seats and the, the cellist was fantastic. And then the ceremony started.
Sabrina Ward HarrisonDid you recognize any of the songs that Chels was doing covers of?
Trenton ReynoldsTotally. Yeah. No, it took us... Well, I think you also must have organized the playlist for the bus too, right?
No.
Trenton ReynoldsYou didn't? You didn't? Because every song... everybody in the bus was like, oh, Sabrina must have put this together. So it must have just been good fortune because it was like all songs that, you know, had seemed to have some meaning, you know, for history. Who was playing the music? It must have been the bus driver. Yeah. He must've just chosen a channel, but it was like song after song was spot on. But no, the cellist. Yeah. Every, pretty much every song. I think I recommend,
Sabrina Ward Harrisonrecognize. And he was so good. Yeah, really, really smooth. I love hearing it from your experience. Yeah, for us, it's just need to hear what your experience is that my natural inclination would
Trenton Reynoldsprobably have been done to do it earlier in the day, just for fear that the sun would go down. Right. And the sun did kind of start going down. But it was it was not a bad thing at all. It was it was it was just very peaceful and restful and fit the tone perfectly yeah so i don't know there's so a lot about it like wouldn't have been my um wouldn't have been my instinct to make those choices and no surprise because because i'm not i don't have the intuition i think like like you do for for setting up that kind of environment but But it was just perfect. The music started and you walked in with your parents. And your dad was... I've never seen him flustered. But he was kind of... was wound up quite a bit. Did you feel that? No. I asked him, are you stressed out? And he's like, yeah, yeah, a little bit. I'd never seen him, you know. No, he doesn't get stressed out easily with things. Yeah, but he definitely seemed like he was just kind of on edge. It was cool to see him kind of emotional, caught up in the emotion of the moment. So he was greeting people and, and then the ceremony started do you want to talk at all about that or
Sabrina Ward Harrisonwell so you so Sean came in with his mom I said I was about to say his dad but his dad was there in spirit for sure he did probably play with your dad
Sean McCabewalked mom in sat her down and got a hug and stood up there shook hands with Scott I think um I just, I remember being not really in a daze because I was looking for you. Yeah. I kept trying to get a peek of you. And then when I saw you guys coming down, there wasn't any like cascade of tears yet.
Sabrina Ward HarrisonAnd we didn't know until afterwards and someone sent me an Instagram posting that it was the 21st, on the 21st hour of the 21st day of the 21st. Oh my gosh. Year of the 21st, yeah, the 21st week of the 21st, year of the 21st century of the 21st yeah isn't that weird yeah so that was cool
Sean McCabeand that's when she said I do yeah so it's pretty much set in the stars at this point yeah I'll tell you, Trent, when we visited out there in May, and we needed something to do, so they took us up into the hills for a hike, and we came down this pass and found this deck that kind of jetted out from the hill. And the light was hitting in just the way that it was, and the thought was, "Man, this is really amazing." It didn't remind me at all of what we had previously planned, whatever it was, the seven or eight months prior to that in September of 20, on the 20th. And since then, we've driven by that. the place that we were originally going to have it. And I would have been so disappointed. I wouldn't even know the difference. No. Because I wouldn't have experienced what I did. What took place in the hills in middle of September, I'll tell you, If it wasn't magic, I don't know how else to explain it. Because I don't think there's any scientific definition for what took place. I shouldn't... I didn't expect to feel the way I did. I certainly didn't expect to ball the whole way through it. I mean, I'm just being witness to what took place. Pretty special. So... I wasn't trying to oversell it or anything.
Trenton ReynoldsSo, Sean, you were walking up the path. You guys found that platform, and was it immediate? Did you know, kind of have a sense that this is where you guys were going?
Sean McCabeI thought, how awesome would this be? Now, this is beautiful. This is where, if I could marry anywhere, I'd love to get married here. And the idea being that, you know, people, they reserve that a year out.
Yeah.
Sean McCabebut they don't necessarily on a Tuesday in, I don't know, September. And we looked it up and she just pulled the trigger on the 21st, which, you know, the numbers are, well, it turned out to be the fall equinox. It was available. Yeah. Just, it all fell together exactly the way that it should. And it's, It's absolutely majestic. So we haven't spent the night apart since the wedding. Look forward to...
Sabrina Ward HarrisonBecause we previously not... We didn't before the wedding. We were spending maybe like three nights a week together. Sure.
Sean McCabeWell, we got big lives. Yeah. But it seems like it doesn't matter. We're able to make it work, so...
Trenton ReynoldsThere's something I was just thinking about how, you know, you had planned to have your wedding a year earlier and then the mess that continues to be COVID happened and... But then it's like everything falls into place. And that, I mean, isn't that so often the case when it's just like when it's not meant to happen, things just get in the way. Right. Even if you want so desperately for it to be right now in this way, if the universe doesn't want it that way, it's not going to happen. Right. And, and then all of a sudden, like, what you end up with is even better. Yeah. Right? Like, I don't know. There's something, there's a life lesson there, right? Yeah. You can't force the, you know, those meaningful moments in any way. They've just got to happen the way they're meant to happen. but man did it and I don't remember
Sean McCabeany it was all a blur it was a blur I remember we were together first thing in the morning and then I don't know if I went for coffee or meditation and you went to your dad's and I hung out and before I knew it, there was a videographer there and a photographer there. And then they were whisking me off to the hills. And you were working on your vows. Yep. Yep. Just pages. Pages. Mm-hmm. embarrassingly long. It could have been narrowed down, but so much good stuff around my head.
Sabrina Ward HarrisonInitially, we were like, we're just going to have the first look coming down the aisle, but we decided to do this sort of first look before the ceremony and have a bit of time to do our vows privately together
Sean McCabeAnd the hope was that somehow by my seeing her after not seeing her all day, because I'd want to see her before I saw everybody else just to kind of calm down a little bit, that I'd be able to get all that crying and stuff out of the way before the ceremony. And while I did cry profusely when I saw her, and she and I exchanged our vows, when we got, I thought I'd be fine by the time I got to the ceremony. And when I saw her, it was all over again. Oh, gosh, you're a bitch. In my life, I've never felt so clean and so pure after any event and felt so much joy. rejuvenating energy, whatever that is, just, and exhaustion, and, you know, send you some pictures of the morning after. Of course, we don't, we didn't stay up all night drinking or anything because we don't do that. Yeah. We woke up and found the sun coming up over the mountains and
Right.
Sean McCabeShe looked disappointed in all the pictures, to be honest with you. No. She just looked really like, I could have done better.
Trenton ReynoldsShe was so happy, yeah. I do remember, though, walking up to you, Sabrina, and you were just, you did seem just like, this is just surreal. I wasn't completely on earth. Yeah, yeah, you're just kind of floating a bit. It was awesome. Yeah. All right, so Sean was a mess, which made things difficult for the rest of us. I could not make eye contact with either of you because I knew my emotions. I've become very fragile in my old age.
Sean McCabeIt's a good feeling.
Trenton ReynoldsSo, Sabrina, tell me, what was your day like starting in the morning?
Sabrina Ward HarrisonYeah, I got up and I ended up going back over to my dad's place to get ready there, have some kind of quiet time, and I did the Peloton a little bit, and then I took a bath. And then I just had a woman come and do hair and makeup, which I was kind of like thinking it was kind of a tough call to do it or not to do it. And I just, I went for it. I kind of felt like it was a little much, but... that's what it was. Um, and I, I felt this deep calm the whole day. I felt this peace. We were driving up and Molly and my dad were asking me kind of like, how are you doing? I'm like, I feel so peaceful and this kind of calm knowing and just everything felt so right. There was no hesitancy or fear or anything. It was just like, I just meeting my, meeting my partner in the woods.
Yeah. Yeah.
Sabrina Ward HarrisonBut I had issues with my dress. I had this kind of bordello or whatever, sort of shrug, beaded shrug that went over my shoulders. But I thought I got it altered so it would fit right when I moved around and it kept sliding down my arms. And I couldn't, so I couldn't lift my arms most of the day until finally I had some tape that I was able to tape it up on my arms later when we got to the reception.
Sean McCabeThere's a wonderful, wonderful, I don't know if you saw on Instagram for the videographer, Seth, that did a video montage over her reading of her vows. I didn't see that trend. That's on Instagram. Yeah. Oh my gosh. It will make you cry. Made me cry. I saw the pictures. I don't think I saw it.
Sabrina Ward HarrisonWe'll say it right now so people can look it up. It's that, um, because he's such a great videographer. His, his handle is at make it known media, I think. So I'll, I'll read my vows right now just so we have them on the podcast. If that works into the episode. Okay, I stand before you today a match of heart and soul. You are my favorite my eternal I Sabrina choose you Sean to be my husband. I vow to love you with tenderness in my care Passion in my heart and grace in my glance I promise to play with you, cheer you on, never shame you. I'll hold you and comfort you in sad times and simple moments. To love you and hold space for your own continued unfolding, becoming more and more beautifully yourself. With joy, with laughter, with playfulness and delight, nut can love nice only in a weird made up language, I will ride with my arms around you to the moon and back. You are the heart of my heart. I give you my hand to hold, my life to share, and my heart to keep forever and always.
Sean McCabeI do, thank you.
Yes, please. That's awesome.
Trenton ReynoldsIt's been quite a journey, Trent. It has. It has. What a story. Yeah. Just pretty amazing to think back on these past few years.
Yeah, right? Could have missed it all.
Trenton ReynoldsHow are you feeling looking back on it? Does it feel like a dream?
Sabrina Ward HarrisonIt feels like a dream, but it feels like it feels calm and natural to continue to unfold what's happening and... We of course would love to build a house, get some land and build something. For now we're transitioning into being over here a bit more. We were saying how it is something different because we didn't jump in and don't have a bunch of kids yet. And won't be having kids. It is kind of different to be getting married at this stage of life.
Sean McCabeNot have to do anything in life. this moment. Yeah. Yeah. Lumber prices are coming down, which is great. So this time next year, things will look different as far as that, but finding a place, if we want to build something, or maybe we just find something that we're going to inhabit for a while. Maybe there's already something that's already set up the way we want it that if nothing else, you can flip it for whatever you bought it for. Who knows? Right. I'm open to all of it. Yeah. I mean, I was open to the idea of having a rooftop loft. You know, it's not ideal at all. I got four motorcycles. I got to find a place to park. Point being, you know, as long as we're not living out of a car, because I've done that too. That's horrible. I never want to do that again. So...
Trenton ReynoldsBut I do it, you know, you're individually, you're much more settled in who you are and in your life and path. And I can imagine that that would be nothing but, I don't know, reassuring and reassuring. Make the relationship just feel like it's on stronger more solid foundation, right? It's like you guys know who you are. I don't know I think when you get married at a younger stage in life I think you still have a lot of that road ahead of you like figuring out who you are and what you're about I think that's cool
Sean McCabeIt's there's something else too though about just being open to change and finding out that man, I don't necessarily know how I stand on that, whatever it is or where I'm at as far as if I have to live in front of water or up on a hill or in an apartment. It doesn't find it out that being with Sabrina was more important than where we were so long as we were together it's kind of like the old if you decide to leave me can I come with you because I really like being with you if you decide to leave me can I come with you yes please yes please well done Time's one of those things you spend, you can't ever get it back, so spend it wisely. And the people you spend your time with, I think that's like an investment in self. I want to be around people that inspire and challenge and strive. And I'm really, really grateful that you're a part of Sabrina's life, so you get to be a part of my life and vice versa.
Trenton ReynoldsI just couldn't be happier for Sabrina, having her find somebody that's so well matched and a perfect fit and just solid. I'm just so thrilled that you're there, Sean, that you are who you are. And likewise, it's one thing to talk to somebody and get to know somebody in their voice, but seeing you in person, it was a treat. It was great. And I wanted to mention... just, I guess it's vaguely related to the usual subject matter, and that is Gorilla Glue. I saw Sean work some magic with Gorilla Glue on a countertop, and for all y'all out there that are familiar with Gorilla Glue, turns out you got to read the package because Gorilla Glue is activated by water. Who knew?
Yep, yep.
Sean McCabeI didn't. I didn't until I did. Once I did, I made sure that anybody else that encountered it also knew. And I've yet to find a person who says, oh, yeah, no, I know that.
Trenton ReynoldsNo, that makes no sense, right? Like usually you would never want to put water on glue. Are you kidding me?
Sean McCabeNo. And yeah, it's something else.
Trenton ReynoldsI think on the packaging, they should put Gorilla Glue add water. Or Gorilla Glue used with water.
Sean McCabeOr something that would be related to water. But I get it because Gorilla is, obviously, it's a strong glue. I don't know, killer whale glue or something. You got to bring our minds back to the water.
Trenton ReynoldsAll right.
All right.
Sabrina Ward HarrisonAnd check out the show notes at roominthetrees.com where you can also get in touch if you have any ideas you'd like to share.
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