Inside the Travel-Themed Wedding of an MS Warrior Turned Van-Life Influencer
To live in the moment: It’s an elusive concept that people discuss and desire endlessly, but find profoundly difficult to achieve. But for Lita Talisman (22, a content creator and travel advisor) and Dylan Regan (28, a senior technology product manager), it’s the embodiment of living life to the fullest.
The couple, who tied the knot on September 17, 2022, recently took their life on the road. They moved into a van to “take control of our lives and seek adventure,” shares Lita. While many people enjoy traveling now and again, Lita and Dylan had a meaningful reason for embracing adventure so wholeheartedly. “In 2018, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which was incredibly frightening,” shares Lita. “Those first few months were really hard for me, and I felt discouraged. After wallowing in self-pity, I picked myself up and decided that I was going to change my attitude.” Ultimately, she decided to turn her diagnosis into a positive.
“MS has affected my whole outlook on life. I realized that I can’t take any day or my body for granted,” Lita continues. “I wanted my wedding to be a day that I could look back on as one of the happiest of my life. Also, stress can be a huge catalyst for MS symptoms, so I tried to make the wedding planning process easy on myself. Focusing on the big picture really helped.”
The big picture was a travel theme that nods to her home with Dylan. In 2021, the couple converted a van into a tiny home. They set off to travel the country with the goal to see all the states and national parks in the continental US. “We were able to achieve that goal and have been living in our van ever since,” explains Lita. “We wanted to share our love of adventure and travel with our loved ones. So, the theme of our wedding was ‘festive formal adventure.’”
As an ode to the many national parks Lita and Dylan have visited, they used a font inspired by the cursive lettering ubiquitous there for the wedding signage. The couple also created escort cards in the quadrilateral shape of national park signs and gave the invitations the form of a nature field guide. The latter included a map of where they’ve traveled, including Grand Teton, Joshua Tree, Acadia and Arches National Parks. They even brought their van to the wedding, so guests could see the “adventure rig” that carried them so far, including to their biggest adventure yet: marriage. Lita and Dylan say the van was the most important part of the decor. They have built out its living quarters entirely by themselves and wanted to display their hard work at the celebration. Lita and Dylan creatively chose to turn the vehicle into the photo booth for the evening, so everyone could get a taste of the van life.
Although travel to far-flung places inspired the theme, the couple kept the venue close to home. The native Marylanders settled on Goodstone Inn in Middleburg, Virginia, to host their wedding weekend.
To celebrate their Maryland roots, the couple paid homage to the state through their welcome bags. Cookies from Baltimore, crab-spiced Utz chips and Maryland stickers made clear where the couple’s loyalty lies in the playful Maryland-Virginia rivalry. Crab cakes on the menu were yet another homage to their home state.
“We had always sworn that, as Marylanders, we wouldn’t get married in Virginia,” jokes Lita. “But when we saw Goodstone Inn, we fell in love and knew we had to get married there. It was perfect for a weekend full of celebration—especially given our love of the outdoors. We couldn’t have asked for a better setting.”
In addition to celebrating so many varied locales, the couple also looked to their shared Jewish heritage when deciding what was most important to them at the wedding. “Our family and friends are mixed-faith, but we knew we wanted the major Jewish elements and had our rabbi describe them to the group as the ceremony progressed,” explains Lita. “Our rabbi was actually my bat mitzvah tutor back in the day, and she brought my signed bat mitzvah speech out during the ceremony. Everyone thought it was so cute.” Additionally, Dylan’s sister Ali sang a blessing in Hebrew for the ring ceremony. And the couple tapped seven family members to read the seven blessings, an important part of a Jewish wedding.
While the day came together beautifully, Lita shares that balance was critical to bringing it together, especially in light of her MS. “As most people with chronic illnesses know, stress can be really hard on your body and can exacerbate symptoms. If you are ever feeling overwhelmed or stressed, try to lean on your partner. They are there to support you and plan with you. I also recommend setting time specifically for wedding planning and to push it out of your mind as much as possible during other times. That way you can focus on other things.” Lita encourages couples to take a step back and think about the big picture. “It can get so stressful at times, but what really matters is that you and your partner have a great time. All of your loved ones are there for you.”
