Nathan and Mollie met on a Saturday in June through mutual friends. During a game of King's at the end of the night Mollie drew an eight and tastefully decided to date "Schaef" (as his friends call him). It was all good fun! With a little coaxing from her girlfriends, the bride messaged the groom on Instagram the very next day, and they had their first date a week later.

I'm a very patient person, but I don't believe in waiting for perfect timing. I think that if you know a feeling is true in your heart, you should have no fear about sharing those feelings. I knew very early on that Nathan was someone I wanted in my life, and I remember thinking that I didn't care if something went wrong or if it didn't work out long term. I genuinely wanted to be as happy as I could with him for as long as possible, and I would be grateful for any amount of time we had together. We were sitting on a bench on the lakefront path in Lakeside when I told him I loved him... after knowing him just over three months, and having no expectations of him reciprocating those feelings in that moment. About 15 months later, things between us were wonderful. Together, we'd overcome obstacles, traveled, met families, adopted cats, and discussed our future. But, Nathan still hadn't spoken those three special words. I didn't care, but when Christmas rolled around I was getting a little scared that he might never say it. This was a silly thought, because of course I knew he loved me the whole time. Nathan's actions have always spoken louder than his words. Nathan had a plan and just needed me to remain patient a little while longer. It was New Years Eve and we were at a bar in Tremont with good friends, and he was smiling SO big at midnight... after our kiss he told me he loved me for the first time. Now we tell each other every day, and the wait was totally worth it.

After picking out Mollie’s ring I set my focus on the proposal. I knew I wanted it to be a surprise and to be somewhere beautiful. Mollie had shared so many childhood memories of hers at the Marblehead Lighthouse. She had taken me there several times before and was always so excited and happy, like it was her home away from home. What a great place to make another memory, I thought. Around 11:00 am on Wednesday, April 12, Mollie’s ring arrived. As soon as I saw it, I wanted to give it to her. So I immediately texted her. It just happened to be the first warm and sunny day of the year so I asked her if she wanted to go to Netty’s and grab some chilli dogs. Mollie used to work there in high school and loves the place. Of course she was super excited to go. When she got home from work I stashed the ring and we were on our way. While we stood in line, Mollie was so happy reminiscing about her home town of Marblehead. I asked if she wanted to eat at the light house -“yeah!!”. After we finished eating we took a walk around the lighthouse. Mollie picked a beautiful spot to sit and watch the waves break under the lighthouse. It was perfect. A few minutes later I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. She was so surprised! “Yes!”

Mollie and I got dolled up, went to East Harbor State Park, and got married. Following our elopement, we rode off in my dad's 1967 Pontiac Firebird to Twin Oast where we took photos, popped champagne, and fell in love all over again. As the sunset and the storm of the century rolled in, we raced home like bandits. Alas, we were home and read our vows while the thunderstorm rumbled with applause in the background.

We are honeymooning on an island in the Bahamas called Eleuthera. We plan to unwind, enjoy the beaches and pools, read a good book, eat good food, jam to some good music, visit Harbor Island, and embrace the island atmosphere.

We have a lot of home renovation and travel plans in our future. We are really excited to customize our house in the coming years, and spend as much time as possible traveling to our bucket-list destinations. All cash wedding gifts will go toward our home improvement projects or future adventures as husband and wife.