I fell in love and got married.
I met Michael at a time in my life when I wasn't at all looking for a relationship, which was kind of a nice place to be since often before in my life I was one of those girls who was constantly looking for that opportunity to find love. I had met him twice of before at church and even casually talked to him once, but I say the official day we met was April 19th. It was such an amazing day. He asked me out to lunch (he'll tell you he was drawn to me) and I responded by saying "only if its a big group of people. otherwise I'd like to go back home and work." It was such an uncanny remark and totally shows that I wasn't looking for someone to complete me, make my life, or be my savior. Of course he got a big group of people together. We met later at a Shane and Shane concert that I had planed to go to that night. I saw him there and was like " hey let's sit together." At that point I found myself curious about his life and his faith story. There was this moment during the concert that had never happened to me before. It was just this feeling. I saw him open his hands in worship to the Lord and I was like "Wow". Something just hit me. Up until then I hadn't thought of him as anything other than a friend. He walked me to my car and asked me about my life, and I responded with the obvious answers of work and family. His persistence led to a phone call and he actually called when he said he would, even though I had forgotten about it! It led to our first date and we just talked and walked around downtown Naperville for hours. He says the way he approached our relationship was something like cautious optimism. He approached our relationship in a way that he had never approached an other relationship, making sure I fit in 5 characteristics that he had been looking for, and because I seem to fit those qualifications, our relationship felt natural and easy.
Michael's 5 characteristics were if we were compatible in faith, finance, had similar ideas about family, and, the biggest thing was if I was independent: did I have a life, was I looking for someone to save me. Then there also had to be a spark. I think the 4 issues aligned, and, because of this, we had a spark together. This is what he says about me: Molly is unlike any woman I had ever known. I never felt the way I did with her before and knew after only 2 months of dating that she was the one. Her spirit, drive, beauty, and amazing personality drew me to her unlike any other woman I knew. I loved the way our time together always felt so natural and easily lost track of time a lot on our dates. I would say we had immediate chemistry and our first kiss was evidence of this. It has always felt like home being around her and her family and cherish that very much. For the first time I felt like I found the one God intended for me and that message was loud and clear. I am so proud of her accomplishments as a photographer and so proud to call her my wife.
Michael is everything I've ever wanted and never thought I could find in one person. I love him because he leads me, and I am a pretty strong girl. I love him because he makes plans and follows through and researches everything. I love him because he's silly and spontaneous and we laugh like when your five years old. Our first kiss was incredible, he put his hand on the small of my back and pulled me in. I was literally drunk off his kiss (Of course I hadn't had a drop of anything alcoholic, but it was such a great moment, I was literally in a daze) I remember, after our kiss leaving his house like literally running from his door to my car. And when he told me he loved me, I just felt this rush inside me and I nearly cried.
This is what I want everyone to take away from this; this is my tiny little soap box, for girls… and for guys too, but mostly to girls since I am one. Wait, really really wait, to find the right person who is perfect for you, not the perfect person, (who is) but the one who really works with you. As someone who had been previously looking for someone to fulfill their lives, I quickly learned that just a person, just a warm body was not enough, and you can never change anyone to be something you want. I think the key thing that had happened right before I met Michael is that I was clear and honest with myself that maybe I wasn't going to find someone, and so I made sure I was going to be happy and satisfied with what was in front of me, my business, my family, my friends, my humble apartment. I think that's what really made things easy for Michael and I, cause he was, just very simply that icing on the cake of life. So here it is girls, I am bottom-lining it don't compromise or give up things your looking for in a person just because you want to settled. Wait, and you will find it, and when you do it will bull you over, I promise.
Michael and I waited to get engaged as long as we could. My parents had encouraged me to date him in all seasons. As much as we would have loved to get married after 3 months (as by then we knew we were in love, wanted to married so badly, and were looking forward to having a life), I'm thrilled that we waited; the circumstances that we found ourselves in or the situations that happened while we dated, meeting family and friends or health issues, just allowed for us to be completely confirmed that we were the right people for each other. There was always just a knowing and a huge joy with him in how experiences felt around him and how he handled different aspects of my life together that by the time we got engaged, we were super sure, and I hardly even needed a ring to show that I was his, though he picked out such a beautiful one. So all in all we dated 8 months, got engaged and were married 3 months later, so 11 months, when you know you know.
Sure, we wanted a beautiful wedding, but we weren't as focused on the material aspects of it. Starting a life with Michael was enough for me that those things didn't take precedence over the relationship we were starting together, so we set the date only 3 months away.
We chose to get married and have our reception at Klein Creek golf course and take photos at Klein Creek farm. I loved having photos done there because I volunteered there when I was growing up. I think when we thought about having our pictures at Klein Creek farm I had envisioned walking down the long path towards him. I was so happy to have my parents there to walk me down, yet I felt it significant to say goodbye to them and walk the rest of the way to him myself. I envisioned that picture of my parents hugging, I knew they would, and Kristina and I talked about that, and they caught it. And it was so funny, cause Michael was late, ( and he never is ) so I had an opportunity to run around a bit, then I had to hide behind my parents while we waited for him to pass me. Those are the sweetest and funnest moments we could never have planned.
Our theme centered on naturally simple elegance. The colors of our wedding represented our precious family members that we had gone home to heaven this past year. We had several different handmade items all contributed by friends and family. My florist was my father! Beyond the flowers, we had a Chuppah adorned with fabric and flowers but most importantly it provided the lighting. I designed the invitations & programs and a friend addressed them. I even made homemade fudge for our favors with Eva, and designed the necklaces she and I wore. I even had one of my brides generously pass along her idea and let us borrow her moss boxes and lanterns. Anna, did our make-up. We had a friend from church as a day of coordinator help to see that everything ran smoothly. Michael's mom made homemade lasagna for our rehearsal dinner at our soon to be house, and my friends were like hostess and servers for our guests. The whole day was an out pouring of love, and a gift.
Can I say the whole day was the best part… it just was the sweetest most cherished day I have ever lived. It is a lot of tiny vivid moments that I will hold in my heart forever. I loved rushing to the farm, loved crouching behind my parents waiting for Michael. I cherished the moment that Michael and I looked around the room at the reception and just thought to ourselves that everything was better than we'd ever dreamed. I loved all those moments between all the big ones.
For Michael, the best part was the moment he saw me walking down the road with my parents, in my wedding dress that he hadn't seen yet. It was one of the most vidid memories he's ever had of being so filled with joy. He also loved our first dance cause it was our first moment of being alone, not literally but everyone else faded away for those few minutes and it was just us.
Our advise: once you've planned out how the day will go and all the little details remember that at the end of the day it's just one day and just a celebration of the happy days to come. It's about the relationship you have with your sweetheart. Of course you want the best people there, hire the best venders you can afford and share with them your vision for the day, but then give them freedom to be the artists that they are. We got some of the best photos on earth because I told Kristina to just feel free to shoot however her artistic heart desired.
In retrospect, even though I would love to back to the wedding and relive the day, with Michael I know tomorrow will be better than that day, from the little moments like us making dinner together to the big ones when our baby is born ( a couple years down the road ).
A lot of people ask me who photographed my wedding, and it was an obvious choice to have Vrai shoot it as I work for them. I have had the total privilege of working with Kristina Carter for 5 years now as her associate shooter for Vrai Photography. She has been my mentor and cheerleader in photography and most importantly she has been one of my closest friends. Kristina and Aaron rocked this wedding in ways we cannot get over, we love them so much, these kinds of friends are the best family you could ever create.
Here is the link to her blog posts
Part 1
Part 2
Tina (as I call her) entered some of our pictures into a contest and won, take a look. Contest Blog
Our wedding did get a little fun press too, it was noted on Style Unveiled! It was such a reward and we were flattered to be recognized. Style Unveiled
Here are some of Tina's fun photos that didn't make Vrai's blog or the presses, but I love! Oh Yes! These needed to be marked with the Vrai Logo as they were shot by Vrai, but we made a mistake and put the MG logo on them, I am sure Tina will understand, but note... these are Vrai shots all the way.
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