Dasha's vow

My dear Ilya,
In just a few minutes, you will officially become my husband. It’s so surreal.
Standing here in front of our family and friends is emotional and overwhelming, but just like always, I feel calmer, safer, and more confident when I am by your side.

I want to begin with gratitude. Thank you for the sense of safety and peace you give me every single day. We have traveled a long road together, from our teenage years, almost from childhood, into adulthood. I am grateful and happy that you grew into a man who gives me confidence, stability, support, and a shoulder to lean on.

You give one hundred percent of yourself to us every day. Because of that, over the past few years I have found the freedom to become even more myself, to let go of fears, to become softer and lighter, to reconnect with the little Dasha inside me, and to enjoy life more deeply. In other words, to truly grow and bloom.
I try every day to give my own one hundred percent as well, and I promise that I will never stop investing my attention, energy, and love into us and our happiness together.

Speaking of little Dasha, I was lucky enough to have a very happy childhood. My family filled me with so much unconditional love that they gave me a kind of superpower. That superpower is an endless ability to give love back to the world and to my future family.
Thank you to my parents, my brother, and my grandparents for that gift.
And how lucky am I that I chose a partner who was loved just as deeply and unconditionally. You have that same superpower. I think our children will be incredibly lucky to have us, and to have such loving family on both sides.

I cannot wait to see you become a father, because I know you will be an amazing one. For some reason, I am convinced our children will love you even more than they love me. And honestly, I am perfectly okay with that, because it will be one of the greatest joys of my life.

You are one of the kindest people I know. I remember how you forgave my worst teenage mistakes and welcomed my first awkward attempts to be vulnerable with you when we were still learning what our feelings meant.
I admire how deeply you love your friends, how much you care about them, and how willing you are to support the people you love. I adore your ability to feel things deeply and openly, and the fact that you are never ashamed of tears of happiness or joy.

I love watching the relationship you have built with my family, how much you love my parents and my brother, and how firmly you refuse to let me get annoyed with my mom over little things.
And I am so grateful that I have fallen in love with your family too. Thanks to you, I no longer have just one grandmother I absolutely must visit for lunch when we’re in Samara — I now have three.

You teach me patience, optimism, and lightness. That is one of the greatest gifts anyone has ever given me. You showed me that the world is brighter, kinder, and easier than I sometimes believe, I just needed to see it that way.

And now, the promises.

I promise to walk through life beside you, supporting you gently through every doubt, challenge, and uncertainty. I promise to love you and choose you not only in moments of joy, but also in the everyday.

I promise to cheer for all of your many football teams, to shout and cry alongside you in sports bars and stadiums.

I promise to dream with you, achieve goals with you, explore the world with you, and protect the home we are building together.

I promise to watch every "Quartet E" movie with you (sorry guys, these are the Russian films he obsesses over…) and admire them every single time. I promise to be genuinely interested in your niche science videos on YouTube and your endless deep dives into the history of Samara’s architecture and regional archives.

I promise to keep up with all of your VC gossip and deals. And of course, I promise to watch the Harry Potter marathon with you every New Year’s season. Yes, we are such basic millennials, but I am proud enough of that to immortalize it in my wedding vows. One of the things I love most about you is that you are always unapologetically yourself. You never hesitate to show the world exactly who you are. So today, I follow your example.

I promise to support your dreams, to give you confidence when you need it, to be your partner in everything, to help grow your strengths and complement you wherever I can. I promise to be your safe place, your home, and your support. I promise to accept you fully and to do everything I can so that we are happy together.

I love you.