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Please visit the Travel Tab for a bus schedule of pickup and drop off from the hotel area!
Please visit the Travel Tab for a bus schedule of pickup and drop off from the hotel area!
December 31, 2021
Montgomery, Texas

Amy & Marcel

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    Ceremony/Reception Details

Marcel Hurtado

and

Amy Kociolek

December 31, 2021

Montgomery, Texas

How We Met

09.10.14 - Purdue University

Marcel and Amy both grew up in the midwest. Amy in Indiana, Marcel in Illinois. In 2014 they both began their college education at Purdue University. The couple was lucky to find each other on a class of 2018 Facebook page out of thousands of incoming freshman and begin getting to know each other before even moving to West Lafayette. Starting college had its challenges and time commitments but on September 10th, about a month after arriving on campus, they finally decided to meet in person. Marcel was working on homework with his friend (now groomsman) Grant and Amy was running into writers block while working on an English assignment and decided to join them. Unsure of how to cross campus to where Marcel and Grant were, Amy asked Marcel if they could meet by one of the dinning courts? On a crisp September afternoon Amy thought she was just walking over to meet someone who would be a good friend over the next 4 years at Purdue, little did she know that almost 6 years later he would become her Fiancé. Marcel and Amy instantly had a connection when they met but took their relationship very slow. They began dating on February 2, 2015 and Amy got the honors of meeting his family shortly after where she instantly felt welcomed and loved. Marcel had met Amy's family before they formally began dating but they also were instant fans of the young gentleman they're daughter was spending her time with.

Our Years Together

Adventuring together one mile at a time.

In their time together Marcel and Amy have gone many miles together. The first year of their relationship had small trips around the midwest including visits to Lake Michigan, Chicago and hiking at Starved Rock. Right before their first Christmas Marcel's family moved to Texas and at the time neither of them knew how significant of a location that would become for the couple. Over the years to follow Marcel and Amy spent all of their free time traveling to Texas and exploring the state. Trips to Galveston, Austin, Waco and Dallas were some of the greatest memories they made early on in their relationship and grew their love for Texas. Amy even moved to Austin after graduation in hopes that Marcel could join her but life had a different plan. With Marcel's job being a rotation program requiring moves every year Amy had to pack her bags and move back to the midwest to be near Marcel. The couple went on to move together to Menominee, MI in the Upper Peninsula and it was a greater adventure than either of them could imagine. Hiking instantly became a main hobby with fishing coming in as a close second. Living the small town life really allowed the couple to grow closer. In the most recent year Marcel and Amy have moved to San Diego, CA and the adventures still continue.

The Proposal

10.15.2020 - Duluth, MN

Living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Amy was counting on being able to cross off a visit to Duluth, MN off of her bucket list and Marcel didn't take much to convince. The trip was originally going to happen fairly early in 2020, however; a global pandemic threw a wrench in those plans. In 2019, early October was the timing of Marcel and Amy's big Europe Trip. Since 2020 wasn't allowing international travel, they decided to save their Duluth trip for the fall as well...little did Amy know this trip would be very different from any other one the couple had taken to date. On a sunny October morning Marcel and Amy packed their bags and loaded up the truck for a 6 hour drive to Duluth. Amy's only information about the trip was that they would be hiking, visiting breweries and taking "Christmas card" photos at one of the scenic spots upon arrival in town. Knowing that Amy loves taking pictures, this detail was nothing out of the ordinary for the schedule. As they traveled Amy began to get a little suspicious as Marcel refused to leave the car during any stops unless Amy was there, this wasn't a huge surprise as they traveled through unfamiliar areas but interested Amy. When they arrived in Duluth they got dressed in their "Christmas card" photo outfits and made their way out to Gooseberry Falls. Upon arrival at Gooseberry Falls they found the park to be packed with tourists, even though it was lunchtime on a Thursday. They resorted to the backup plan, Split Rock Lighthouse. From the parking lot it was a short hike out to the overlook where the Lighthouse could be seen. After taking a few sample pictures they set up a tripod and starting taking some photos. Marcel then flipped the camera to video knowing how important it was to Amy to have their engagement captured for them to look back at for the days to come. He got down on one knee and asked Amy to marry him as the waves on Lake Superior crashed on the rocks around them. Of course she said YES!

For all the days along the way
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