we do & we did!

Hey all! Kansas has updated their precautions with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and like many other states is mandating masks. We have purchased masks and hand-sanitizer as a favor for all of our guests that plan on attending and we are encouraging everyone to wear them throughout the evening or bringing your own. The masks are black and the size is adult. We look forward to celebrating with you soon! 🙌🏻

after I found Justin on facebook and had the balls to add him. I don't know what came over me then. For those of you who know me, you know that is very out of character but I felt incredibly compelled to hit add. He soon-after accepted my request and within minutes I sent him a message. Flattering him with my charm, we enjoyed the back and forth for a couple of days. After he tried to make plans with me and I kept nervously finding excuses to say no, we finally made it happen when I was going out to Brickyard on a Saturday night with my girlfriends. Justin said he'd meet me there. While I nervously avoided scanning the crowd, a man comes walking through our circle. "Excuse me, excuse me," as this guy politely makes his way across us. I look up and realize he is significantly taller than I anticipated from the photos I saw online. After that, we got together again and the first evening we hung out alone, we never stopped talking. (Which wouldn't surprise any of you about either of us.) 5 years later, we decided to get married and make it official!

I didn't always dream about my wedding day, but photographing hundreds, I knew I wanted to celebrate without the stress and chaos that can sometimes come with planning and executing a wedding day. That wasn't for me. Justin, thankfully, shared that same desire. At the heart of what we wanted to celebrate for our wedding was our family. We wanted to bring both of our families together for a weekend away from home. We traveled to Manhattan, Kansas and rented out Blue Vista's lodge. The day was rainy, chilly, overcast and filled with emotion. We began the morning by painting a canvas. Each person who had a part in our wedding day added to the canvas for us to keep. We chose to walk into our ceremony together to the song that my parents were married to (surprise!) and stand in a circle with our families. We had family members who wanted to speak at our ceremony and share a piece of advice. Jeff, Justin's older brother, officiated our wedding ceremony and we ended the evening with dinner, games and karaoke. 🙌🏻

There wasn't ever a question on having a small ceremony just like there was no question on having a party! To be honest, COVID shutting down the country the day we got back from our wedding really made us pause on planning the celebration... but celebrating with you was a non-negotiable for us both. There's nothing we want more than to gather with our friends and our family, finally. We know and recognize how important relationships are and truly cannot wait to celebrate our marriage with you all! We will have dinner, our dances, and party our hearts out! We hope you join us!