We went round and round about all of the possibilities for our wedding and kept coming back to the idea of exchanging our vows in an intimate, private setting. After a lot of deliberation, that's exactly what we decided to do. Tennessee is a very special place to us, and to our relationship, so we found a Bed & Breakfast in the mountains of Tennessee to escape to for a few days and say "I Do". With the mountain backdrop, a minister, and a photographer, we stood on a veranda on July 5th at 11am, to declare our love and make our lifelong promises to one another. We are so excited to share our love and stories with you all during this celebration in Kansas! And here is how it all began ...
We first met when our mutual friends, Brooke and Jeff Holzwarth, pulled off a sneaky set up. Renee was visiting Brooke for a weekend before making her move to Nashville, and Mike was hanging out with Jeff (per the usual). We met briefly at their house and then the boys and girls went their separate ways for the evening. When we all met back up a few hours later, Mike decided to show off his dance skills and take Renee for a spin on the dance floor. It turns out Mike doesn't dance. At all. But he did that night. The following Monday, Mike asked Renee out on a date and our love story began. While Brooke and Jeff both knew we would hit it off, neither of them mentioned a thing to us. That was a smart move on their part because with our combined stubbornness, that date may not have happened. We knew pretty quickly that it was right. And it's just become more right as time has passed.
Mike strategically made the details of our date night, which became the proposal night, Renee's idea. He knew exactly what he was doing. After driving us dangerously close to the restaurant of our first date, Mike asked Renee what she wanted for dinner, knowing that 9 out of 10 times her answer will be "Mexican food". So we ended up at the same Mexican restaurant we went to on our first date. Afterward, we walked down to Dave & Busters for some fun competition after a rough day at work, conveniently also where we went on our first date. Surprisingly, to both of us, Jeff & Brooke (yes, the same friends who introduced us) happened to be at Dave & Busters too. We played almost every game and as we were leaving, Mike told Renee that the Grand Ol' Opry sign had been changed and suggested that we "retake our first-date photo". While approaching the sign, Mike's heart was beating out of his chest, and he got down on one knee and proposed. Renee was no longer upset that he refused to play Dance Dance Revolution at Dave & Busters, seeing as he was hiding a ring in his sock all night. Renee said yes.