An Epic Celebration in Guatemala, Ruins and Volcano Included

On March 21, Keri Ann Meslar and Trevor Thomas Galko stood in the back of the Convento Santa Clara, the sprawling ruins of the Santa Clara Church in Antigua, Guatemala, arm in arm, watching their friends and family singing and dancing during a surprise firework show to close out their wedding celebration. In the distance the Volcán de Agua, a towering 12,000-foot volcano, loomed. The song “Wake Me Up” by Avicii blasted through the 18th-century convent and gardens.

“The fireworks, they just got bigger and bigger and higher over the venue, and people were going nuts,” Mr. Galko, 45, said. “Tears were flowing from my eyes with happiness and joy.”

He added: “It was the best three and a half minutes of my life.”

“It was this outpouring of love from people who were like, ‘It’s your turn,’” Ms. Meslar, 43, said.

The moment was made more powerful by the couple’s journey, said Brian Luftman, 46, a college friend of Mr. Galko and a groomsman. “These are two people in their 40s who took a completely unconventional path to getting there, but true love prevailed.”

Mr. Luftman described their journey as “a boomerang.” The couple had dated early in life, separated, then got back together 10 years later.

Ms. Meslar and Mr. Galko first met in 2006 when they were 25 and 27. Both lived in Washington, where Ms. Meslar worked for the National Football League team the Washington Commanders, then the Redskins, and Mr. Galko worked in tech sales.

Mr. Galko put an ad on Craigslist for a roommate, and Ms. Meslar’s best friend responded. “I went with her to check out the place, and I thought the guy was cute, and he asked us if we wanted to go out with his friends,” she said. “I said yes.”

They ended up closing down a sports bar. Ms. Meslar remembered Mr. Galko gave her cab money, “which was thoughtful.” Mr. Galko was impressed that Ms. Meslar partook in the 10-cent wings.

Two weeks later, they went on their first official date to see the rock band Blue October at the 9:30 Club. Three months later, they were officially a couple.

A funny moment occurred that summer when Mr. Galko met Ms. Meslar’s parents for the first time after running into them at a bar after a day of kayaking. “I only had my outfit from the night before, so I wore Trevor’s basketball shorts and a T-shirt,” Ms. Meslar said, laughing.

In 2007, Ms. Meslar moved to Charlotte, N.C., to work for the Charlotte Bobcats, the National Basketball Association team. The two tried to have a long-distance relationship, but with busy jobs and lives, they eventually drifted apart. The couple broke up in 2009.

“It was a timing thing,” said Katherine Kennedy Allen, the friend who answered the Craigslist ad, who was later a bridesmaid. “Keri Ann’s career was taking off, she was traveling a lot, she was finding herself as an individual.” Indeed, Ms. Meslar went on to work for companies including Coca-Cola, Burger King, and Nando’s. Mr. Galko married in 2016, and divorced a few years later.

Fast forward to 2019, when Mr. Galko was watching the March Madness basketball tournament on television, and the Volunteers from the University of Tennessee, Ms. Meslar’s alma mater, were playing. “I was like, ‘Oh God, I miss Keri,” he said. “I sent her a two word text: ‘Go Vols.’” Ms. Meslar, who happened to be at the game, sent back a photo.

After six months of texting, they met up for dinner at Maydan, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Washington. Both made an effort to dress up. “It was like he was courting me even though this was someone I knew at his core,” Ms. Meslar said.

They had both changed as people. “I didn’t even have a passport when Trevor and I first met, but now I had traveled to 20 countries,” Ms. Meslar said. And they seemed to work as a couple even more the second time around. By the following summer, July 2020, they had moved in together.

Ms. Allen, the friend, couldn’t believe it when they told her during a Zoom happy hour that they were dating again. “When they were dating the first time, Keri Ann and I dreamed of her wedding,” she said. “When they got back together it just felt right, like they would be together forever.”

Mr. Galko grew up in New Berlin, Wis., and attended Miami University of Oxford, Ohio, where he received a bachelor’s degree in finance. Mr. Galko works in software sales for Chainguard, a tech startup.

Ms. Meslar grew up in Oak Hill, Va., and attended the University of Tennessee, where she got a bachelor’s degree in communications. She now works as a marketing executive for Call Your Mother, a deli chain based in Washington.

The couple, who live in Arlington, Va., became engaged in March 2024 during a trip to Wales. They had just landed in London and driven four hours to Wales, so Ms. Meslar didn’t understand when her boyfriend insisted they drive another 45 minutes to hike.

“We pulled up to the spot, and it is the most magical place I had ever seen,” she said. “There is the ocean below, and there are these perfect little rolling hills, and the reason the grass is perfectly manicured is because they had these wild Shetland ponies.”

Mr. Galko found the only other person walking around and asked her to take a video as he got down on one knee and popped the question. Later, when they were celebrating, they met four Englishmen who had rented a nearby lighthouse and invited them over for celebratory drinks.

Binge more Vows columns here and read all our wedding, relationship and divorce coverage here.

The couple were legally married March 17, when they filled out paperwork on the steps of the Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown, where Ms. Meslar’s grandparents became engaged. In Washington, couples can self-officiate.

They chose Guatemala for their celebration because it’s a place they’ve visited many times, and Mr. Galko had invested in a local brewery named Antigua Cerveza. “I wanted to bring our friends somewhere they might never go otherwise,” Ms. Meslar said. About 150 people made the trip.

The festivities started on Wednesday, March 19, when Mr. Galko spontaneously texted guests that he had rented the bar El Tigre Negro. “We were wandering the streets of Guatemala, trying to find this speakeasy, which was totally unmarked,” Ms. Allen said. “It was this super cool dark room, almost like a smoke stack, and we were chilling and lounging.”

On Thursday evening, there was an official welcome event at Casa Troccoli, a rooftop bar and restaurant overlooking the erupting volcano. A local caterer made handmade tortillas, and there was a taco stand. A D.J. and saxophone player serenaded the crowd with popular hits. “All the girls went crazy for ‘Murder on the Dance Floor,’” Ms. Allen said, because it was a theme song of sorts for their years in Washington.

Friday, the formal wedding celebration day, began with the couple sending one another presents: a sentimental stuffed animal for Mr. Galko and a diamond necklace for Ms. Meslar. They arrived at the convent separately. “All these locals stopped and waved to me as I was getting off this bus, and they were all clapping,” the bride said. “I felt like royalty.” A mariachi joined the wedding party to take photos around town.

After a 25-minute vow exchange led by Ms. Meslar’s brother-in-law, David Watson, the party began. “You walk through this cave, and then you come out into this spectacular room” with high columns and domes, said Mr. Luftman, the groomsman. “It was this perfect day in this beautiful garden, and the flowers were awesome.” He said no one left the dance floor for hours.

“Whatever expectations I had were blown away,” he continued. “I wasn’t at Tom Brady and Giselle’s wedding, but there was no way it was better than this.”

At 9 p.m., after the fireworks, guests made their way by bus to the brewery that Mr. Galko invests in, located in a garden with trees and flowers. Lasers lit up a dance floor, and guests helped themselves to a s’mores station and wood fire pizza.

Ms. Meslar said the entire week was worth the wait. “All these people just embraced us and our story and were so happy we found each other again,” she said. “It really was our happily ever after.”

On This Day

When March 21, 2025

Where Convento Santa Clara in Antigua, Guatemala

A ‘Groupiemoon’ After the wedding celebration, the couple and 18 guests traveled by van and boat to Lake Atitlán, a body of water in a volcano crater in southwestern Guatemala. They spent three days sightseeing, relaxing, eating and drinking.

Local Makeup The bride and her bridal party got their makeup done by Monica Boppel, a friend of a friend of the groom’s. She lives in Guatemala and the bride hadn’t even met her before her wedding celebration day. “It was the best makeup I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” the bride said. “Everybody looked so good.”

Find My Friends. The groom sent out a list of his favorite restaurants, bars and spas in Antigua for all guests. He said he added everyone to his “Find My Friend” app and loved seeing where everybody was throughout the wedding weekend.