Due to COVID-19 Josh and I have made the difficult decision to cancel our wedding reception scheduled for January 2nd at 4 pm. This was not an easy decision because we were really looking forward to celebrating with everyone! As of now there are no plans to reschedule. Thanks! Love, The Bride & Groom

COVID-19 has made Josh and I face some difficult decisions regarding who we can and cannot have at our wedding ceremony and reception. We have been limited by our church and our venue on the amount of people we can have celebrate with us. With this being said only immediate family and a few friends will be able to attend the ceremony at St. Basils. Some other family and friends will only be able to celebrate with us at the reception. Then there are some that will not be able to attend either. Believe me when I say this was not an easy decision for us to make, but Josh and I are ready to be married and wanted to go forth and do so. We appreciate your love and understanding during these crazy times! Stay safe! Love, The Bride & Groom

Our first date was in the winter time, we had been talking for a little while and finally decided to meet up. Since we had lived 2 hours apart we met about half way at the Okemos mall… Now just a couple of days prior my phone tried to update and failed epically to the point of not being usable. So thankfully my parents had a iPad that I used Facebook messenger on to stay in contact with Nicala. To say I was nervous was somewhat of an understatement, but I knew I had to meet her. So we found each other in the parking lot and started walking throughout the mall. Ruby Tuesdays sounded good so we went in and had dinner. I barely touched my food because I was so focused on the pretty girl a crossed the table that I forgot about eating I suppose. We talked and laughed and had a great time. Not ready to go home yet we got in the truck and started driving around Lansing, past the capitol and then MSU and who knows where else. Only had to turn around once as the surrounding area started to seem a little sketchy and I didn’t want her to think I was a kidnapper. As we headed back to her vehicle, we ended up making a stop at the nearby Target (little did I know that this would become a common thing). When we got back out to the truck I went to open her door, which I thought I had unlocked… But it wasn’t so when I pulled the door I ended up pulling myself in closer to her and just went for the smooch! It was great and the rest is history!

Josh and I met half way between where we were living at the time (Gaines - Josh, Portage - Myself). We ate dinner at Ruby Tuesday's in the Lansing Mall. After dinner we drove to the capital to look at Christmas lights and then ventured into a less than favorable area where I was certain I was being kidnapped, jk. Because we did not want the night to end we went to Target to walk around a little more (smart man for picking Target - he got some major points). Finally we called it a night and he took me back to my car which I had locked my keys in *face-palm*. So we got the spend even more time together waiting for AAA to come unlock it. It was a very memorable date to say the least!

I knew in my head that I was going to be proposing this year at some point. Once I had the ring, I had never really thought about a winter proposal, so I was not sure what I wanted to do. So one weekend in February 2020 we had gone back home to my parents for the weekend. I had grabbed the ring that morning and told myself that I was going to propose. Had the plan in my head and stayed calm all the way through breakfast. It wasn’t until I was paying that I started to get nervous. The plan was to go downtown Fenton Michigan to the park. Walk around a bit and then do it. Conveniently it was a gorgeous winter day. Sun shining and not a cloud in the sky. So we were almost to the park and I said lets go enjoy the sun, then proceeded to park the car and she looked at me like uh we can enjoy it from in the car. So once I got her out we walked around and there happens to be a statue in the park of a skeleton guy playing the guitar and singing… I couldn’t believe it as Nicalas father was a singer in a band and unfortunately had passed away before I came into the picture. But the way she lights up when telling me stories about him all I could think was this was meant to be. He was right there with us. We got back by the water and I had given her a hug and thought this is it I’m going to do it. I had all these things planned out to say and while trying to gather my thoughts during this hug I wasn’t able to remember hardly anything and I continued hugging her trying to remember but I couldn’t. As she started to get concerned as to why I was not letting go… I finally did it… Shaking voice, tears of joy and not a single planned word came out of my mouth… But it was the most pure, happy moment of my life to the point of everything being blurred out of my vision except her beautiful face… We were the only two things that existed in the universe to me at that point…And she said YES.

We stayed at his parents that weekend and that morning we went to Mega, which is my favorite place to eat breakfast on that side of the state. Josh ate all his breakfast and was acting totally normal so I would have never guessed that he was nervous about anything. On our way out to the car Josh made a comment along the lines of "it's nice out we should go enjoy the sun". I was half listening (probably on my phone honestly). He drove a little ways and parked the car at Fenton City Park. I asked him what we were doing and he said "enjoying the sun". Which I thought he was just saying it was a nice day out, not that we were getting out of the car to walk around. We walked around this park for a good 20 minutes. We came across this really neat sculpture called Grateful Fred a/k/a Heavy Metal by Bob Pollock. It was a skeleton playing guitar with a microphone and an amp. It instantly made me think of my Dad which I loved! Then we walked towards a bridge and at the point I was cold and ready to go back to the car which I think Josh sensed. He pulled me in for this great big hug and after a couple seconds I started to let go but he held me tighter and said "I love you" and I said "I love you too". He goes "No, I really love you..." and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was so shocked and crying of course that I don't really remember what all he said but I said yes! It could not have been a more intimate proposal having it just be us two. We are so excited to start out lives together as Mr. and Mrs. Rey!