We're Getting Married!

We have created this website as a convenient and interactive way to share all of the important details with you leading up to our wedding. You can also read more about our love story, get to know our awesome bridal party, and check out our registry information. So have fun, take a look around, and don’t forget to RSVP! Finally – thank you for your ongoing love and support. We are so excited to share this day with you and look forward to dancing the night away with all of our favorite people!

It was a typical house party you could imagine for 2011. Jordan was with her girlfriends at the time to go to this party so her friend could see a guy she liked. Gary was friends with the person who was throwing the party. They got introduced and became instant friends. They argued for about an hour about conspiracy theories and their different point of views on life were perfect for each other. Although they didn't know it at the time, for the next 14 years they would call each other best friends. Jordan visited Gary in college at University of Illinois. Gary helped Jordan move into her house. Jordan even adopted his cat Blanche for 6 months while Gary found a place to live after college, which would end up being down the road from Jordans house. The rest is history, or answered below.

It started with a sushi date. But it "wasn't a date!" if you ask Jordan. They started going to concerts and shows together as the only friends who had the same taste in music. For years Jordan never really saw Gary in that way. According to Gary he always liked her. One random New Years Eve, Gary Kissed Jordan and said " You know i'm going to marry you right?" Jordan replied ever so lovingly and said "yeah ok" and laughed. Many years later it's New Years Eve 2018. There are 3 people at Jordan's house for NYE. Jordan, Gary and a friend. Gary and Jordan were completely different people than those kids who kissed on NYE so many years ago. But, Gary tried again. He kissed Jordan at midnight, and this time it was different. Jordan then proceeded to call her entire family and her best friend to let them know that she "accidentally" kissed Gary and wanted to know if that was weird that she kinda liked it. After that Gary started to take Jordan out on some real dates. What do you know, their first date was a local sushi restaurant called Wok n Fire. Their interests now were cooking and home design. Gary took Jordan to a hotel in Chicago for a weekend staycation for her 26th birthday. He took her to Tao and after dinner asked her to be his girlfriend right at midnight making our first important date 7.12.2019.

Gary had been planning the greatest surprise for Jordan for about 8 months. Jordan goes to Waco, Texas to visit Magnolia for Silobration every year. A 3-day event at the Magnolia Silos with food trucks, live music and local artisans. Jordan first started going to Magnolia with her parents when they surprised her with a trip for her 25th birthday. Since then they have gone to Waco, 7 times, 4 of those times with Gary. On their first time going to Waco together a random couple got engaged on the Magnolia grounds in front of the huge Silobration sign. Jordan said omg I would be so happy if that happened to me, except I want Joanna Gaines to announce that Gary has something important to ask me and I meet Chip & Joanna and the ring is HUGE and I say YES. Well it kinda happened that way...but BETTER. Some weird things started happening to Jordan, signs if you will. Did Jordan notice? Of course not! She burnt her ring finger 2 weeks before they went to Waco and didn't say a word when Gary put burn cream on it every 10 minutes. She planned her outfits by day and didn't care when Stephanie (her best friend) was very passionate about the choice of outfit she was picking for Friday unknowing what was happening that day. Her parents flew them first class both ways to Waco. Something they have never done before. They stayed at Hotel 1928 for the first part of their trip. They moved hotels to an AMAZING top floor suite at The Pivovar Hotel overlooking the Magnolia Silos. Not once questioning why their hotel room had 2 beds in it. They ate breakfast at Magnolia Table that morning and Jordans parents surprised them with tickets to be able to go on the rooftop of Magnolia Market. They went to the Waco Zoo after breakfast where Jordan got stung by a bee... ON HER LEFT HAND. Totally cool calm and collected Jordan, yet again, was wondering why everyone was so concerned. They had taken a family photo on the rooftop of Magnolia Market a couple years ago and that photo made it onto one of the signs on the property. They were known as "The Sign Family". Leslie, Jordans Mom, suggested they get changed to go take a photo on the roof. Jordan refused to change saying "Her outfit was cute and her boots were expensive" It was not an outfit she would have wanted to get engaged in, lets just say that. Her and Gary go in their room to change where Jordan looks sad. Gary asks whats wrong and she says "Stephanie had the same reaction when I showed her what I wanted to wear, weird" Gary convinces Jordan to change and everyone is happy. Well besides the fact that Jordan now insisted they stop over at a book signing before they went on the roof. They stopped to eat some food from the food trucks and eventually made their way to the roof. They recreated the photo and then Gary and Jordan took a picture. There was a clear blue sky, Magnolia Silos in the background and the band was playing Something in the Orange. Gary turned and said "Jordan Nicole" Jordan knew immediately what was happening. She asked "Is this the moment?" Gary said "Yes, guess what's in my pocket right now". They both blacked out but snapped back in when she said "YES!". Of course Jordan is crying and cannot believe this was happening, a dream she never thought would happen at what Jordan refers to as her "Happiest Place on Earth" JUST HAPPENED! That's when Stephanie, Tom, Chandler, and Stasi come onto the rooftop and Jordan about died. It was very important to her to have her best friend and younger sister be a part of that. The moment was perfect and was shared with the people that matter most to them.

Jordan has been a longtime fan of Chip & Joanna Gaines. After Gary and Jordan got together it wasn't long before Gary was hooked too. They enjoyed watching the show Fixer Upper and getting inspired to create a home of their own. They have been renovating their house one room at a time. They have a wonderful friend who works for Magnolia that they met a couple years ago as their Castle tour guide. They became fast friends and made a point to see each other once a year while visiting Waco! Gary involved their friend in the planning of the proposal and she was on the roof ready to "take our picture" but secretly recording their engagement. After Jordan got the biggest surprise of her life an even bigger one was about to hit, and this time it was for Gary too. Their amazing friend says she has tickets for Saturdays Concert with Johnnyswim for the entire family and that Jordan and Gary had VIP seats. Beyond excited they started to thank her when she says. "Oh and your going to meet Chip & Joanna Gaines and go onstage and play Catchphrase with them." They were speechless. They celebrated their engagement at a local steakhouse with the whole group. The table was filled with sushi, fried rice, Rolls, Steak & Lobster and a very nice bottle of red wine. They were so nervous they couldnt eat anything. It was the quietest they have ever been. Everyone arrived to the concert where they were whisked away by a Magnolia team member and brought right to the VIP section. It was a little section off the side of the stage by the front door of Magnolia Market. There was a bar serving a delicious mocktail and cute little Magnolia Bakery treats. As the concert starts, Chip and Joanna walk by Gary & Jordan. They freak out and realize this is actually real life and were really about to do this. Imagine the scene from Four Christmases when they are playing a game and rapid firing off the questions, that was Gary and Jordan. They beat Chip & Joanna in 4 rounds of Catchphrase. They got some incredible pictures and got to hug them too! They still cannot believe they got to experience that.

Hey, Its Us! We are obviously doing great, were ENGAGED! We live in South Elgin, IL with our little fur babies Rex and Blanche. Rex is a miniature pinscher and Blanche is a black cat. We LOVE Crate & Barrel and go to every Goodwill we see. Our guilty pleasure is Estate Sales. We love a good find. We enjoy home design and renovation and Gary has even built some furniture in our house! We are obsessed with food network and have watched almost every episode of Guys Grocery Games. We love cooking and trying new restaurants. We still cannot believe that we ended up together, but are so happy we did! We are so incredibly excited to start this new chapter in our love story and cannot wait to see what comes next for us. For those who have read this far, don't tell the others but you're our favorite.