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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s favorite “Star Wars” family is set to become official.
Photos of Victor Sine, 25, and Julianne Payne, 22, dressed up as Finn and Rey with baby Addie as an adorable BB-8, quickly went viral after the Salt Lake Comic Con’s FanX event at the end of the March. The couple is engaged to be married on May 28 and along with wedding planning, they’re working to have Sine officially adopt Payne’s daughter Addie.
Cuteness level is over 9000!!! Go follow @realfinnandrey for cosplay excellence! #cosplay #cosplayguy #cosplaygirl...
Posted by Mark Loertscher Photography on Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Even though Sine and Payne grew up only about 15 minutes away from each other in Orange County, California, — with Sine even being home taught by his fiance’s cousin for eight years — they didn’t meet until they were both in Utah. Sine felt impressed to move to Utah first and a couple years later Payne’s family made the same decision.
Only a few months after her arrival, the couple met on Tinder and things progressed quickly from there. They’ve known each other since August, when Addie was three months old.
“It took probably three months of just making sure I was sure and once I was, we fell in love super fast. And once we fell in love we wanted to get married really quickly,” Sine said. “It just all felt really right. It’s the first relationship I’ve ever been in where it was all about choice and not infatuation. Like I was choosing her, and once I chose her and Addie, it was more of a real pure kind of love and appreciation.”
The couple has a court date set for April 21 for an ad litem attorney to plead before a judge, saying that the couple wants Addie and it would be in her best interest to be in one household with a father, according to Sine. He said her biological father hasn’t been involved with raising Addie and is cooperating with the adoption. A GoFundMe account was set up to help cover costs*.
Help us with our impending court date and attorney fees, to make our family official! :) we appreciate anything and everything. gofundme.com/addiesadoption #familiesareforever #baby8 #MTFBWY
Posted by The Real Finn and Rey on Thursday, April 7, 2016
At the same time, they’re planning for their wedding in a LDS temple. The couple just sent out invitations for the big day. Payne is also going to move her stuff into a home the couple will share after their wedding, thanks to a gift from her father.
“We’re probably like 70 percent done with (planning), but it’s kind of hard to focus on it,” Sine said. “... With the court stuff coming up, we’re trying to be progressive about the wedding planning so the baby can be sealed, but there have been a few roadblocks and then the stress of potentially adoption court not working out — we’re just super stressed about that.”
Wow! This couple has been so fun to shoot! Here is their engagement session, shot at the Cactus and Tropicals Greenhouse...
Posted by Robert Lance Photo Art on Friday, April 8, 2016
With all of the planning, cosplay has provided a fun outlet for the couple to relieve stress. They’ve done several photoshoots in their Finn, Rey and “Baby-8” ensembles, even heading to the Little Sahara sand dunes with their wedding photographer Robert Lance to recreate scenes from Jakku.
Sine said the viral success of their first big cosplay was a complete surprise. He said it has been a little weird, but a cool experience.
“We’ve done many in the past, but this was the one where I felt like I spent a lot of time, money, effort and preparation, and so did (Julianne),” he said. “So we knew people would recognize it and like it, but we didn’t think it would be internationally viral. There was no way. We were not prepared for that, but it has been fun and cool. ... Like we go places now and people recognize us.”
The couple already has ideas for future cosplay projects for the upcoming “Star Wars” spinoff “Rogue One” and for different fandoms, like Jessica Jones and Luke Cage and the “Hunger Games.”
Happy The Force Awakens Day!!!!!Happy TFA Day!!!!!Stay tuned this and next week for some fun things to come! Share & Like!#MTFBWY
Posted by The Real Finn and Rey on Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Outside of cosplay, the couple enjoys watching movies or heading to farmers markets and the mall. They’re having a “Star Wars” themed party for Addie’s first birthday at Libery Park at the end of April.
Sine said he can’t wait to be together with Addie and Julianne all of the time. Right now, he works for the University of Southern California from his home in Salt Lake City’s Avenues while Payne lives in Midway and works part-time as a nanny in Park City.
“I only get to see Addie the times I get to see (Julianne), so I try to make it last because she is super attached to me,” he said. “She sees me as her father figure, so it’s hard for her when I’m not around as much as everyday.”
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