Welcome to our love story

Picture this: Jack, living in Sheboygan, beginning to figure out the direction he wants to take his life. He decides to join Tinder (on a dare he’ll claim), but his heart just had so much love to give. He was just ready to find someone to give it to. Sarah, living in Green Bay, had downloaded Tinder out of boredom on a rainy day, but had the location set to only allow people within 10 miles of her location because no way would she be able to do long distance. Then one fateful day, while driving to Milwaukee to celebrate Erika’s birthday, Sarah stops at a gas station and has just enough time in line to take a quick swipe through Tinder, not even thinking about the distance. Right away, the connection was planted. They decided to meet. Sarah was hesitant at first, but she decided to go to Sheboygan and meet Jack (sorry mom! Katie had my location!!). Upon arrival, the sparks flew. Sarah was hesitant, but Jack’s persistance and ability to see the best in everyone knew that this was a love story in the making.

Jack moved in with Hannah and Ashley, and they welcomed Sarah with open arms. Sarah drove to Sheboygan every weekend from that first weekend, and didn’t miss a single one until a family vacation in January of 2019. Jack and Sarah spent every weekend together... even though Sarah got the flu or food poisoning, or whatever illness came through the door of the day care she worked at during this time almost every weekend. Jack never failed to be by her side. On many occasions Sarah would be so severely sick, she couldn’t stay awake, but Jack never complained. He would tend to her at any request, cuddling and rubbing her head until she was sound asleep before play video games- within distance to be able to keep an eye on her of course. “It was good practice for taking care of our future children.” -Jack “And somehow, Jack never got sick. Not once. What kind of bulls**t is that?!” -Sarah In December, they decided to book their first vacation together - Florida. Thanks to Sarah’s uncle Jerry and aunt Aly, they had a wonderful vacation. A Tampa Lightning versus Detroit Red Wings game (with seats like 7 rows from the glass!!), a two day Disney world excursion, soaking up the sun, and creating amazing memories. “It was during the fireworks, Sarah looked at me and it felt like she was looking into my soul. It was then I knew she was going to be my wife.” -Jack “Growing up, the Disney princesses were my favorite. Being there with Jack I just knew, he is everything a prince should be and more.” -Sarah “One of the greatest things we did on that trip was purchase a book called “2000 random questions about me” and a pack of colorful pens. Whenever we had time, we’d take turns asking each other the questions, and writing down the answers. Sitting on the beach learning more random information that would almost never seem relevant to ask, developing a sense of how the other views the world. It was truly a great bonding experiece.” -Jack and Sarah

In April of 2019, Jack and Sarah decided to take a big step in their relationship. They packed up Jack's stuff and moved in together in Green Bay. With a little bit of compromise and a whole lot of communication, living together only made their relationship stronger. Over the next two years, they continued to build their relationship, exploring each other’s hobbies, going on new adventures, and tackling the hurdles of being in your early twenties together. Sarah followed her dreams and got her education in Aesthetics while Jack worked late nights in a factory. The schedule wasn’t ideal but they made it work, cherishing the time they had together even more. “Through everything, my crazy ideas, my impulsive purchases, just everything, Jack never faltered. He encouraged me to follow my dreams, wherever they took us.” “It was easy, I just did what I needed to do and so did she. We made it work and I’d do it again.”

If you ask Jack, he'll tell you- the proposal was a choice that was a long time coming, but Jack wanted it to be special. In May of 2020, Jack and Sarah had plans to embark on their next big trip- New York City. Liz and Erika were on board and seeing Wicked on Broadway was something Sarah dreamed about. Jack dreamed about proposing in New York with the help of Liz and Erika. Covid had others plans. NYC, Wicked, and the proposal was no longer going to happen, so Jack needed a new plan. After watching Frozen ||, Jack felt more nervous than he ever had before, but he knew the time was right. Sarah was dying to go see her mom at her new house in Florida and Jack knew how much it would mean to her to tell her mom in person. An friend helped coordinate the whole thing, from making sure he could get a ring without Sarah knowing, to texting Jack his cue when it was time to propose. “What Jack didn’t know was he could’ve proposed to me with a ring pop on our couch and I would’ve said yes. He worked so hard to make the day special and it was amazing.” -Sarah All of his preparation paid off because with tears in her eyes, Sarah said yes to the next chapter of their fairytale.

💙Where was your first date? Techincally, it was Tim and Becky’s house (where Sarah met Tim for the first time). But our first outing as a couple was Buffalo Wild Wings with Hannah for a packer game. 💙Where are you going to honeymoon? We plan to take a small trip to somewhere we can enjoy a weekend away, and revisit in a year. Jack’s dream honeymoon is Greece and Sarah’s is any of Europe 💙Any plans for a family in the future? In a few years, we would like to start a family, but we want to take at least a year and enjoy just being married.

We are so grateful for everyone who has had any part in our love story, and could go on for days about how much we appreciate all the help we've gotten along the way. A few callouts for those we can never thank enough... 💙Amanda and John Chase (Mother and stepfather of the bride) for being there every step of the way, helping the bride with any and everyting at the drop of a hat with lightning speed, and so much more. 💙Tim and Becky Van Zeeland (Mother and father of the groom) for being there every step of the way, providing design and handyman skills for all of the brides crazy visions, and so much more. 💙Eileen Trethewey (Grandmother of the bride) for helping make sure each of our visions could be possible. 💙The Fun DJ for the DJ Services 💙Sepia Chapel and their amazing employees 💙Moon + Wolf Co (Amanda Vick) for the photography and videography 💙Biebel’s Caterering for dinner 💙Priscilla Varela for her beautiful makeup services 💙Sam Corsten and Emily Walton for their hair skills