We're getting married!

Our love story began towards end of 2017 when we found eachother online. From the moment we started talking, we had an immediate connection. Shortly after, we had our first date at Starbucks. However, the date did not go as planned when we ordered our drinks and we went to pay. This is when prince charming realized that his wallet was not in his pocket... He told the princess not to go anywhere and that he will be right back. So she had to stand awkwardly at the register by herself while he searched his car in a mad panic. She's thinking this guy is trying to get out of paying but finally, after looking seemingly forever in his car, he finally returned with his wallet and paid for our drinks. At first this gave her concern, though knowing him now, something like this would not be a surprise. After sitting down and getting a little more comfortable with one another, we spent the evening laughing, drinking coffee and getting to know each other a little better in person. This was the begnning of our tale and now we look forward to writing the next chapter together with all of you at our wedding!

(Her version) In July of 2019, we took a family vacation to Myrtle Beach. We spent the week sunbathing, playing in the ocean, relaxing with family, and just having a great time. I had my suspicions that he was going to propose during this trip but I wasn't sure when so I spent the first few days wondering if and when it would happen. Mid-way through the week we made a trip out to Charleston. We all had a blast taking in the beautiful sights and fascinating history. At this point I started to wonder if this was when and where it would happen. But as the day went on and many picture-perfect opportunities passed us by, I began to dismiss the idea. When we returned to the hotel, I had pushed the hopeful thoughts from my mind. After we ate dinner and I changed into my PJ's (hair up, make-up off), we received a call from his step mom saying there was something down at the beach that we need to see right away. I'm thinking to myself, what could possibly be down there that would warrant us to rush down to the beach as a storm was about to hit? Little did I know that it would be the most wonderful inconvenience of my life. Herb is practically running and I am having a hard time keeping up all the way down the 7 stories of stairs to get down to the beach. Once we arrived, his step mom said there was something in the sky that I needed to come over and look at. As I walked over to stand by her, I noticed there was something spelled out with seashells in the sand. To my shock and delight it said “Marry me Kelly”. I turned and there he was down on one knee. I was thrilled beyond words and of course I said “Yes!”. I still laugh because despite my anticipation and thinking I was on to his scheme, he still managed to surprise me when I least expected it. (His version) It was summer 2019 and I was on vacation with the fam. I saw a pretty girl, grunted, pointed, clubbed her over the head and dragged her back to my cave. We have been engaged ever since! The End.

Wedding Plans After months of putting it off it was finally time to pick a date and a venue. We looked around and found a few potentials before finally settling on a lovely venue known as The Makoy Center in Hilliard. More specifically, The Makoy Center’s Burgundy Room. We immediately fell in love from the moment we saw it. A few signatures and a one big deposit later, we were in contract and on the road to marriage town. We knew it would be a lot of work and the road would be rocky... If only we knew just how rough that road was about to get. Pandemics When the lock down began, all of our plans had to be put on hold and any illusion of order and certainty went right out the door. During this time Kelly was forced into unemployment, crowds were limited to 10, social distancing was in full swing. At this point the future for our wedding was looking very uncertain and the world was put on hold. Cancelations, OH MY! As the world continued to suffer from lock downs, Illness and death. Our hopes for our wedding original wedding plans were seemingly spent. Unfortunately, we had already crossed the point of no return with canceling the venue and getting back any of our payments. We would much later find out that our concern may not have been warranted but we didn’t want to take the chance. So we called up the venue and asked if they would be willing to refund the majority of the payments made, even though our contract was beyond the point of no return. Luckily for us the Makoy Center is run by incredibly kind and caring individuals that recognized our situation and refunded the majority of our payments with exception of the deposit.