Zach and Kristy are asking for a copy of your wedding photos. They plan to encoporate them in a very special way to their big day. Please email your photos to hoppkristy@gmail.com with your name and wedding date included. *tip: if your photos are not digitized, use the Google photo scan app on your mobile device to make a digital copy.

Zach and Kristy first connected, like most modern couples, through a dating app. Several weeks passed filled with conversations about their love of Northern Michigan, dogs, craft beers, the great outdoors, hockey and of course football. Eventually, they decided to meet in person at The Mitten Brewing Company in Grand Rapids (Cheddar supervised). The rest is a tale as old as time.

Kristy and Zach made the decision, in the summer of 2024, to leave Grand Rapids and start a new adventure together in Northern Michigan. After several months and who knows how many home showings later, they purchased a house in Gaylord, just in time for the worst winter in over 10 years. One hundred eighty six inches of snow later, it was Kristy's birthday. Zach told Kristy his family wanted to come up for the weekend to see them and celebrate her birthday weekend, along with Kristy's cousin Sara. In typical Kristy fashion, she was joking with Zach the week leading up to her birthday that the only logical gift he could possibly give her would be an engagement ring. Little did Kristy know, Zach was planning to ask Kristy's parents for permission at dinner on her birthday. On February 28th, Zach told Kristy that his mom and brother were dead set on getting in a workout and wanted to hike the four hundred sixty two stairs up Avalanche Preserve in Boyne City (one of Kristy's favorite hiking trails). At the top of the stairs, overlooking the bay, Zach got down on one knee and asked Kristy to marry him.

"Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm;
 for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.
Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away."