UT alumni tie the knot in Antarctica

When most people think “destination wedding,” they imagine tropical resorts or European rivieras, but Eric Sun, BBA ’20, and Jennifer Liu, B.A. ’20, chose a more extraordinary venue: Antarctica. In January, The University of Texas at Austin alumni became one of the few couples to marry on the world’s southernmost continent in a testament to their adventurous spirits.

Sun and Liu’s love story started when they were undergraduates. Sun, a dual business honors finance and mathematics major, met Liu, a Plan II, philosophy, and rhetoric and writing student, during a group hangout in their freshman dorm. Their relationship got off to a slow start — mainly progressing through friendly Snapchat messages while Sun studied abroad in Argentina. When he returned to campus in Fall 2017, he finally had the confidence to ask her out.

They started dating, and after graduation, their relationship took the two Texas natives farther than they ever imagined. Sun is now an engagement manager at consulting firm Monevate, and Liu works as a litigation associate at Kirkland & Ellis in Washington, D.C. Whenever they get the chance, the couple traverses the globe on new adventures, including a 26-mile hike on the Inca Trail in Peru. By 2025, Antarctica was the only continent that they hadn’t visited. Sun and Liu wanted to cross two things off their bucket list at once and decided that Antarctica would be the perfect setting for making their wedding vows.

The venue — a cruise ship operated by Quark Expeditions — presented unusual complications. The couple had to obtain their marriage license from the British government, the only country offering the option to marry in Antarctica, and Liu’s father went through the lengthy and expensive process of becoming an official British Antarctic Territory marriage officer to perform the ceremony. The wedding details, including location and timing, remained uncertain until 24 hours before the ceremony due to unpredictable weather.

Despite these challenges, the ceremony came together as a labor of love. The couple and their parents bundled up in cashmere sweaters, ski pants, and bright yellow parkas, and they gathered in front of glaciers. Sun and Liu exchanged vows and took turns leaning on each other’s backs to sign their wedding certificate. They continued the celebrations with a special dinner on the ship and a polar plunge, complete with humpback whale and emperor penguin sightings. After their voyage ended in Argentina, they held a second reception with more guests and warmer weather.

From the Forty Acres to Antarctica, Liu and Sun attribute their relationship’s success to a shared passion for adventure. In her vows, Liu remarked that Sun feels like “home, no matter where we are — whether it’s in a 300-square-foot studio in Boston, a tent 5,000 feet high on the Inca Trail, or a cabin on a ship making its way through the Drake Passage.” 

—Amanda Waxman