We're getting married!

We were set up by a mutual friend that Kristen worked with and Donnie had gone to high school with. After speaking for a short amount of time they decided to meet up. Kristen went to watch one of the high school baseball games that Donnie was coaching after her field trip with her students. Neither was dressed to impress but as soon as Kristen saw Donnie she gave him a big hug which certainly shocked him. Even though neither wanted their first date to have to do with food, they went to grab a slice of pizza after the game.

Donnie was determined to wait to meet Kristen's parents before he asked her to be his girlfriend. However, after a date night that included dinner at Tapas on Main, he couldn't wait longer.

On July 4th while Kristen was away in Florida, Donnie went to her parents and asked for their permission. Since then he had been planning to pop the question at her family reunion because he knew how important family is to her. At the reunion as Kristen was walking to get food Donnie told her to wait because he had a question to ask her. Kristen instantly started to panic as he started to make an announcement to get everyone's attention. He spoke about her kindness and how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. There, in front of her Nana, he dropped to one knee and ask her to marry him.

After we got engaged Kristen had two wedding venues she really wanted to see. When we got out of the car at Barn Swallow we fell in love with all it had to offer. Kristen loved how Kim (owner) made her feel at home as she called us her kids for the day. It was such a welcoming experience and truly beautiful. Donnie told Kristen to not fall in love with the first place, solid advice, except it was too late. Kristen had her heart set on getting married at Barn Swallow. However, they did not have many Saturdays available. Being the practical person that she is, Kristen wanted to see the last venue she loved from online pictures. This is where things went to the birds. Kristen came down with a terrible stomach bug (and she is rarely sick, and never in the summer!) and could not leave the couch for almost a week, let alone see a wedding venue. By the time she was able to see the venue, it was underwhelming. As her and her mom were leaving she called the owner of Barn Swallow and asked if she could show her mom. Kristen's mom loved it as well. Fantastic! Except there were tears down the road as the date we wanted was no longer available. In fact, the wedding season is short and they had ZERO remaining Saturdays. Neither of us wanted to marry on a Friday or Sunday. Finally Donnie just so happened to notice that September 6 was labor day weekend. ALLELUIA! How this date was not yet snagged we have no idea but we are so excited that you can have the next day off from work. Our wedding will be a perfect mixture of classy, and feeling like you are home. The husband of a family Kristen has taught swim lesson to for years will officiate. We are so excited for you to join us on our day. Our photographer Maggie is AMAZING and we know you will love meeting her as well. She has also promised us that she has a fantastic track record of no rain. ;) We have invited the people we love most to share in our love, and we can not wait to eat, drink, hug, laugh, cry and dance with you!