Our first dance was seven years ago at a lakeside tavern. Grand Funk Railroad‘s “Some Kind of Wonderful" came on and then, we don't remember exactly how it happened, but we were dancing as if we've always danced. Little did we know then, but we would dance to the same song seven years later as people who have grown, lost, gained, laughed, and built a love stronger than we could have ever imagined. Though we both grew up in Hartland, MI and went to the same middle and high schools, we never met until the summer before Sean went to college. Even though Karah is three years older, it still always seems funny to us how we met each other for the first time through a long-time mutual friend in Hartland and only after we both graduated. In a way, you could say we are belated high school sweethearts. We both believed in relationships built on substance and saw love as something to be taken seriously and nurtured deeply in the face of life’s uncertainties. We immediately sensed this complexity in one another, which sparked the unbreakable bond we have today, as we danced for the first time in that lakeside tavern. Our affection toward each other flourished while we attended Grand Valley State University. It began with playful hand-drawn cartoons and love puns such as “I want to lion your arms forever,” which depicted a cute cartoon lion extending his paws to Karah, and “You octopi my thoughts” — an adorable octopus drawing that let Sean know he was always on Karah’s mind. Messages in “Crush” bottles and punny cartoons grew into page-long and even story-length love poems. These early days of our love inspired the invitation you received to celebrate the next adventure in our lives with us. *keep scrolling for more sap*

“One should not retreat from this / For what I speak of knows exactly what it wants to do / And what it wants to do is deliver us from our mortal troubles and turn them into a sacrifice worthy of its work.” – Excerpt from the first page-long poem written by Sean for Karah, which made her swoon In the middle of our “rainbows and butterflies” romance, life or death adversity would put our love and the extent of our willingness to sacrifice for each other on trial at an early age. Sean became very ill in the summer of 2014 and was eventually diagnosed with chronic kidney failure due to a rare auto-immune disease. Right before this crashed down on us, we were looking forward to growing our lives in Chicago with a new job for Karah and a chance to earn a master’s degree at the University of Chicago for Sean. But life was put on hold for over a year and Karah moved back to Hartland from Chicago to live by Sean’s side as he fought for his life. Sean went to dialysis treatments and Karah worked from home or the hospital while we waited, hoping for a chance to move on with our lives and for Sean to receive a kidney transplant. Then, in a miraculously speedy cross-match, Karah was approved to donate her kidney to a stranger in exchange for a kidney for Sean. In the middle of all this, Sean’s father passed away at home in his arms as Karah called 911. The devastation of this shared moment gave way to a relationship so bonded and resilient that there is no doubt it will stand the test of time and mortality. *you stuck with us this far...there's only a little more to go*

Sean received a transplant in the spring of 2015. He still wishes he could have walked into Karah’s hospital room after they got out of surgery to propose right then and there. Instead, he waited for the one-year anniversary of the transplant and proposed on March 20th, 2016 — not only the first day of spring or the day two new lives were given, not only a day of dedication and commitment, but also in the exact same place where Karah and Sean first met — at their friend's house in Hartland. After being put to the ultimate test, we continued growing our lives together and worked to accomplish what we set out to do in the first place. Now, we are so excited to celebrate this love with you as we officially tie the knot! We hope your weekend with us and our wedding day can be thought of as more than just a moment between two people, but as a moment when our most loved and cherished humans came together to enjoy each other’s company and live life to the fullest for a few fun days...we hope it’s some kind of wonderful for you, too. :)