Celebrating 18 Years: How Lindsay & Brian Met

We’re celebrating 18 years of marriage. Join us as we walk down memory lane. 

Around Christmas, I was sat at home enjoying a rare moment of downtime, when I scrolled past a ring that could be customized with the exact latitude and longitude of where you met your partner. Immediately I thought back to the day Brian and I met. 

The Day We Met

I was standing at the bottom of the gangway on the Dawn Princess, working as an on-board photographer for Princess Cruises. We’d docked in the Port of Ketchikan, Alaska, and I was taking pictures of the guests as they boarded the ship. 

During a quick break with a fellow photographer, I noticed a tall guy walking toward us, lugging two huge bags.

“Hey, I’m Brian,” he said. “I’m the new video guy who’ll be working with you.”

It seemed like just an ordinary moment at the time, but neither of us ever forgot it. 

By February 26, 2007, we found ourselves back on the Dawn Princess—this time as guests. After years of following each other from ship to ship and city to city, we knew exactly where our journey was leading. Surrounded by friends, we got married on the open sea and began dreaming up the rest of our lives. 

As I sat there looking at this custom map, I realized something: Brian and I knew exactly where we were married. (As with most cruise weddings, the longitude and latitude of a ceremony held on international waters is marked on our marriage certificate.) But we didn’t know exactly when and where we met. 

Mapping Out Our Love Story

I immediately started researching. 

First I focused on when we met. I knew it had to be within a certain time period, but I couldn’t remember the exact date. So I pulled up old ship rotations and found our first voyage together … and the day we embarked: July 23, 2005. 

Next I researched the Port of Ketchikan to locate the exact coordinates of the gangway: 55.339501° N, 131.644585° W. 

And just like that, a nearly 20-year-old memory felt closer than ever. 

Looking back now, Brian and I laugh about how no one offered to help with his bags. We remember the tight-knit team of photographers–and the ONE video guy who had to run the entire on-board video department by himself. We talk about how close we all were, how crazy those days were when we lived out of suitcases and stayed up way too late drinking beers and talking about the future. 

Celebrating 18 Years

Although those memories feel like a lifetime ago, in some ways, they’re still as vivid as ever. Uncovering the exact coordinates of our first meeting made the memory feel closer than ever, as if we could pinpoint the exact moment that everything changed for us. 

Since I already had the perfect ring from Brian, we decided to create our own custom map print—something tangible to mark the place where it all started. Now, whenever we look at that little red dot on the map of Alaska, we know: that was the exact moment our story started. 

And as we celebrate 18 years of marriage this February, we couldn’t be more grateful that it led us here.

About The Schlicks

We first met onboard a Princess Cruises ship while working as a staff photographer and videographer, and then in Ketchikan, Alaska, our lives changed forever. Later we were married aboard another Princess Cruises ship, and eventually settled in Santa Clarita. Brian was working at headquarters, and Lindsay was busy launching a business she had always dreamed of building. Fast-forward a decade or so, and we’ve moved into our first brick-and-mortar boutique studio with a team we love and clients who feel more like friends. We’ve expanded our product lines to include video content that tells the stories of many local businesses and organizations, as well as business and marketing strategy sessions with Fractional CMO support.

But at SchlickArt, we like to work hard and play hard, so we celebrate the personal milestones, too. We’ve been lucky enough to buy our first home and adopt our silly-sleepy cat, Eleven, for our 11th wedding anniversary. We’ve made friendships we know will last a lifetime, and we’ve been making up for lost travel time by going on adventure after adventure with the people we love most. Whether we’re traveling abroad or enjoying the simple peace of our own back garden, we try to make the most of the time we have together. Of course, for Brian that time is usually spent with a new craft beer, and for Lindsay, it’s best enjoyed with a gin cocktail. But we always find a reason to raise our glass, and we’re so grateful for that.

About SchlickArt 

SchlickArt, a luxury visual marketing company based in Santa Clarita, started in March 2012 with the simple idea that empowerment creates a kind of authenticity that shines through every camera lens. Built on a philosophy–rather than a product, service or person–SchlickArt has rapidly evolved, meeting fractional CMO, business and strategy planning, professional portraiture, business photo and business video needs as diverse as the community we capture. It’s the desire to take care of you, the client, that drives us at SchlickArt. 

Kirsten Quinn

A lover of strong coffee and yellowed pages, Kirsten Quinn-Smith is a professional content writer and owner of WordSmith Content Marketing here in Santa Clarita. She believes great content can forge a loyal, authentic and beneficial relationship between you and your audience – and grow your business. With each piece of writing, Kirsten's goal is to position you in the content spotlight through audience-centered, strategy-based writing that actually sounds like you. Why? Everyone has a story, and every story deserves to be heard.

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