Welcome to our wedding

Matt and I (Tanya) met at work (CarMax) in early spring of 2016 in Parker, Colorado. I am a sales consultant and Matt was a mechanic at the time. Matt had just recently transferred to Colorado a couple months prior from California. A group of friends from our work went out for drinks at the BoardRoom. We officially met at that bar as Matt introduced himself and offered to buy drinks for everyone. Fast forward about a month or so, on May 6th 2016 we hung out for the first time solo/ we call it our "first date". This official first day date was snowboarding at Winter Park. The day started with breakfast at an Irish Pub just off the slopes. I (Matt) was definitely a beginner as I had gone only a couple times prior but tried to show I was able to keep up with Tanya. She asked, "are you fast?" I responded with a confident, "nope". Her response made me know that I would have to step it up. She then said, "Well I go fast and through the trees. So you are going to have to keep up or I will see you at the end of day at the truck." There are a million stories we could share about our love story, but basically we fell in love and are truly best friends. We lived in Colorado for a solid 5 years. Spending our days; camping, fly fishing, hiking, riding our motos, mtn biking, snowboarding, kayaking, going to country concerts, attending any sporting events, watched sunsets at Daniels Park, all while bringing Cooper (our OG golden) everywhere we went to explore all the beauty Colorado had to offer. It was such a dream. Matt knew from the early days of dating that I wanted to someday eventually move back east (PA) to be closer to my family. God's timing is always perfect. One thing led to another and with our jobs, it worked out to make the move back to east at the end of August 2020. Matt always jokes that he is from California and I am from Pennsylvania, so we compromised and moved to PA. Deep down he loves Amish Country, but not a day goes by that we don't miss living out west closer to the Rockies. We cherish every friendship and family member near or far that has had an impact and influence in our relationship along the way (you know who you are). Cheers to continuing to make memories no matter where we are, because home is wherever I am with you.

In June of this past year, Matt and I were blessed to be able to go on a trip to Hawaii on the island of Kauai with a few of his family members. Saturday, June 19th is the day that he proposed which was also our 6 year dating anniversary. We spent the day in the ocean and poolside. Later that afternoon, we all got ready for an early dinner (4:45PM). Prior to dinner the family wanted photos of us and everyone together since it was our anniversary and Father's Day. Matt decided to propose near a pond within the garden of the Marriott hotel courtyard (it felt so private and amazing). I was blown away and crying happy tears. Truly the most magical proposal and trip in Hawaii.