Johnathan and Kelsy met the summer after freshman year at a charity 24 hour soccer tournament. The first moment Kelsy saw Johnathan she turned to her friend and asked “who is that???”, to which her friend replied “oh that’s my friend John Reynolds” and Kelsy replied “I am going to marry him!” She knew in that moment he was the one for her. Johnathan being a teenage boy was not so easily swayed into a long love story, but rather needed some time to fall in love. Kelsy was patient (kind of) while they remained friends for 2 years (they both definitely flirted though so maybe not too patient). It only took Kelsy showing slight interest in another guy for Johnathan to come around and ask Kelsy out. That first date, sealed the deal though! The two of them were at the mercy of their love for one another. Through high school awkwardness, choosing colleges, trauma and hurt, jobs and career changes, different cities, etc, no matter what life threw at them (and no matter what the status of their official relationship title was), they always stood by one another, stayed in love, and knew one day they would be here preparing to say “I do” in front of their friends and family. Shortly after Kelsy finally moved back to PA, Johnathan planned an amazing day where he hoped to get down on one knee in a hot air balloon while Kelsy read a sign on the ground from above that said “will you marry me”. Well, Mother Nature tested Johnathan’s love and desire to marry Kelsy that day when she threw a wrench in his plans and brought gusts of winds that halted all balloon flights. Johnathan was a man on a mission though and quickly adjusted to the turn of events and when he finally got down on one knee (on the ground though), he wasn’t even able to ask Kelsy to marry him before she yelled “FINALLY!!! YES YES YES!!!!” Eventually she quieted down for a minute and he was able to officially verbally ask and she was able to say yes again! That was October 28, 2023 and the best day of their lives thus far… that is until the day they both get to say “I do” standing in front of all of you!

It was the summer of 2012 and I was invited to play in a 24 hour soccer tournament with my new high-school team. The day before was used to set up your tents and meet some of the other kids you’d be playing with (if you didn’t already know them). I was setting up my tent when a tall blonde ball of sunshine walked into the tent area to set up her tent. Our mutual friend introduced us, this was the day I met Kelsy. Instantly I could tell she was a very up beat and outgoing person… Not to mention she was beautiful. At that time I wasn’t thinking of relationships let alone with someone that I just met! After the tournament concluded, two things happened. One, I learned Kelsy was indeed the most energetic person in existence and two we exchanged numbers. We would text on and off consistently, but again, me being a high-school boy, I was not interested in a relationship just friendship and sports. One day Kelsy had too much Mountain Dew (yes Mountain dew) and decided to bomb my phone with 100s of text messages. At that time I was playing Halo with one of my best friends Jacob. Long story short the amount of messages coming through broke my phone and she and I lost contact for a little. Fast forward I heard one of my friends was now talking to her and possibly going to start dating her. For some reason that didn’t sit well with me. So one night this friend of mine and a few others were in her neighborhood and decided to stop by. She opened the door and was still partial dressed up for one of her dance recitals. She looked beautiful! I decided that night that I wanted to date her and give this relationship thing a try and that’s what happened. It wasn’t long after that I found myself in love with this woman and her in love with me. Being with her made high school fly and before we knew it, it was time to go to college. Me being who I was I didn’t have many options for school so I stayed local to get my degree, she on the other hand had many offers and finally decided to go to the honors college at Penn State. Distance was hard but we would see each other from time to time. We would text and do phone calls a couple times a week! Many of you know Kelsy and parts of our love story. College is what battle tested our love, our mental and emotional strength and connection to one another. If she were anyone else or if I were someone else I don’t think we’d be sharing this special day. You wouldn’t be reading this story. After graduation I moved back home and she moved to the big city to tackle her life goal. Again distance. However, we were committed to our forever and we made extra efforts to see each other every weekend! New York was a very fun experience for the both of us and we got to experience many things! Finally it was time for a decision to be made and Kelsy decided to come home and it was time for marriage! She moved home in July and by October I was down on one knee asking, well trying to ask. When Kelsy saw me get down on one knee she busted out screaming and cheering, I didn’t even get a chance to ask haha. Once she calmed down I was finally able to ask! I knew she was going to say yes but it was still a weight lifted! That day officially started out forever!