We're Getting Married!

Lauren and Justin first crossed paths at a lake party in the summer of 2017. Justin was about to be a senior and Lauren was about to enter her junior year. Lauren caught Justin's eye when she was walking with a friend down to the lake. Justin immediately had to ask his friend Brennan "what's that girls name?" And that's where it all began. Near the end of the night Justin somehow ended up riding around on a golf cart with Lauren and her friend Maddie. Lauren and Justin spent hours chatting and laughing effortlessly. Justin even ended up having to push the golf cart back to the party after it died while Lauren and Maddie sat in the cart. Justin still recalls to this day his favorite part about that night was when Lauren quickly said "don't sit on my Doritos!" when Justin went to get in the golf cart. Later that summer Justin and Lauren began dating and spent nearly every day together.

For their five-year anniversary, Lauren and Justin planned a weekend trip to Traverse City. They began their day with breakfast on their hotel balcony, overlooking the Grand Traverse Bay. The weather was absolutely perfect, setting the tone for what would be a memorable day. After breakfast, they made their way to Mari Vineyards, for an afternoon of wine tasting. After a few more stops at local wineries, they headed back to their hotel to get ready for dinner. Justin was unusually stressed. He kept checking the time and nervously asking, “When are we going to dinner? What time is it?” Lauren, trying to calm him down, said, “It’s just dinner, Justin, chill out.” But what Lauren didn’t realize was that Justin wasn’t stressed about dinner at all, he was trying to make sure they had enough time to get to the beach before sunset, the setting he had carefully chosen for the proposal. As they finished dinner, Justin drove them to the beach he said he’d been wanted to go to. He took them to a trail through the woods that led to the beach. When they reached the shoreline, they both admired the beach. Lauren turned around to say something to Justin, but before she could speak, she saw him kneeling in the sand, holding out a box with a ring inside. She was stunned, her mind racing. “Is this real?” she thought. She had no idea what Justin said in that brief moment as he knelt before her. She caught sight of a woman standing a little farther down the beach, quietly snapping photos with a camera. It was then when she realized this was actually happening. Tears filled Lauren’s eyes as Justin looked up at her, waiting for an answer. Overcome with emotion, she immediately said yes, the moment feeling perfect and complete as they stood there, taking it all in. Afterward, they celebrated with a small photoshoot, capturing the joy of the moment. As the photographer snapped pictures, Justin and Lauren couldn’t stop smiling — they smiled so much their faces hurt. Justin, still grinning, told Lauren how he had planned the whole thing out, including asking her dad for his blessing months ago. Once the photoshoot wrapped up, they sat side by side on the beach, smiling ear to ear, still in awe of what had just happened. As they watched the sunset, they couldn’t stop talking about the day, the proposal, and what was to come.