We're getting married!

Our story began in 2004 at Caledonia High School (Michigan). If you ask either of us, we both remember each other but wouldn’t say we knew each other. Ethan remembers Marlee was busy in her AP classes, and Marlee remembers Ethan’s changing hair styles and his sk8er boi vibe. After high school graduation in 2008, Ethan earned his Culinary Arts Degree from Grand Rapids Community College and went on to California and later Chicago where he cooked in Michelin star restaurants. After moving to Wisconsin from Chicago, he left the kitchen behind and went on to pursue a career in the building trades, which eventually brought him to Montana. Meanwhile, Marlee attended Central Michigan University and graduated with a degree in Advertising and shortly after moved to metro Detroit and later the east coast to work for clients including Ford Motor Company, BMW and Johnson & Johnson in Dearborn, Detroit and New York City. In May 2021, a little over a year into the pandemic, we found ourselves in similar situations: Both recently single and temporarily living at our parents’ homes after moving back to Michigan from being out of state (Ethan from Montana, Marlee from New Jersey). We connected on the dating app Bumble. Marlee initiated the conversation with a “Hey stranger,” like you do in a small town after not crossing paths for 13 years with that cute guy from high school. We talked and made plans to meet up for a dinner date the next week, but were both were so eager to connect in person that we arranged for a walk at Prairie Wolf Park on May 24, 2021, days before our dinner. This was also Ethan’s first time meeting Birdie, Marlee’s dog. Ethan brought flowers for Marlee and a new toy for Birdie. When we got together, everything just clicked. All of the things our hearts wanted – friendship, love, adventure, goodness, security – we found in each other. It was easy to fall in love that summer and we quickly felt a strong connection between us. In our first year and a half together we split our time between west Michigan and Detroit area and packed in plenty of travel (vacations and camping trips around Michigan, a trip to Yellowstone National Park & The Grand Tetons), fun and food – both cooking together and dining out. In our second year Ethan moved to Grosse Pointe Park and we continued to enjoy all that metro Detroit has to offer for sports, dining and entertainment. In year 3 we took an amazing trip out west to 9 National Parks (Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Mesa Verde, Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon) and made so many happy memories experiencing new things together. On Christmas Day 2023, Ethan proposed to Marlee at Belle Isle in Detroit during a quiet morning walk through the woods. It was private, relatively unplanned and just perfect. We even happened upon a local photographer who took a few photos for us moments after Ethan proposed! After getting engaged we were inspired to lean into living our dreams and we started our home search in Traverse City, an area where our love blossomed and where we knew we wanted to raise our family. We moved to our 130-year-old home in June 2024 and have been so happy ever since living in this beautiful area that aligns with our love for the outdoors and being near the water. We both feel very lucky that the many paths life has taken us have brought us together. That very faint foundation of being high schoolers together is a funny thing to look back at; we had no idea almost a decade later we would fall in love and build a life together. If you’ve read this far, we want to especially say thank you for loving and supporting us either individually or as a couple all of these years. Our family and friends mean so much to us and we can’t wait to celebrate our love with you this coming September 2025!