Felicia & Natalee

Lauren Greenberg Photography Missouri America lesbian two bride gay same-sex couple wedding marriage Dancing With Her

Words by Natalee

I had planned a surprise trip to California for our 5th anniversary and planned to propose, all while Felicia was planning a surprise trip to Denver over the SAME weekend. Long story short – I got wind of her ‘surprise’ trip, canceled mine – went with her ‘surprise’ yet invited eight of our closest friends to come out with us, unknown to Felicia.

We all met out there and had a great time. I planned to propose somewhere during the hike at Estes Park the following day. I didn’t know when or where I was going to do it. Three-quarters of the way into the hike, Fel snuck us off the trail and down to a waterfall. And then she wanted to go across the rock and into the middles of the stream on a big rock.

Without hesitation, we dropped out pack backs and headed to the rock – I figured what better time to propose since we were a bit secluded.

As soon as we got to this rock, Fel pointed out that the tree next to us had a heart carved in it (aw perfect, I thought). On this small rock, I tried to get on one knee, and Fel wasn’t about ready to move close to the edge to help me out. I [sort of] finally got down on one knee and asked the question – both of us laughing and giddy the whole time. And of course, she said yes!

My brother and our friends had packed champagne, and we celebrated at the top. It is such a memorable and special day.

The wedding day and planning it was far less stressful.

We hosted ‘Wild Wedding Wednesdays’ at our house leading up to the wedding, where a lot of the gals in our family came over to do different things. From spray painting the dinos that we used to put together all the honeycomb balls – they did it all. Fel also asked me to make a giant backdrop two weeks before the ceremony. Although I acted put out by needing to do it, I enjoyed it because I knew how excited she was for it, and it turned out to look pretty good at the venue.

When it came to wedding outfits, we struggled. Struggled so hard, we both had a vision of what we wanted to wear, but couldn’t find it ANYWHERE! Felicia finally ended up having her skirt custom made by a local seamstress. We spent a lot of time at the fabric store, deciding on the fabric and color for her. She paired it with a bodice that she ordered from BHLDN.

I wanted a jumpsuit, so I ended up buying four, having alterations done on all of them, and decided the day of which one I was going to wear.

Despite a tiny bit of wedding day outfit stress on the day, everything was so perfect and went so according to plan; it almost didn’t feel real.

Natalee truly cherished having our closest family and friends in one room surrounded by all things we loved. She doesn’t have one favorite memory, but something that sticks out was our dance – we had taken lessons on a particular dance the months leading up to it, and we didn’t mess it up…too bad.

For Natalee, looking at the constant smile on my face the whole day meant more to her than anything else.

And, I couldn’t agree with Natalee more; it’s hard to choose just one favorite part! I loved how she looked at me during our first look; she just lit right up when our eyes met! That smile and glow lasted the entire wedding. It’s so awesome when I stop and think of all the family and friends we had there to celebrate with us! That group of people will probably never be together again, so it is so memorable to me! Also, our bridesmaids were the BOMB! My best friend did a rap as her toast that will go down in history.

Our wedding with eclectic, the same way that we are, and every single detail intentional.

I don’t know that we necessarily had any traditions incorporated other than having a couple of things honoring people in our lives.

We had family heirlooms merged with our centerpieces, and I had a cigar bar to honor my Dad with all of his favorite things as decor. I wore his wedding ring that day at the wedding.

We always take a shot of Wild Turkey whiskey on my Dad’s birthday. So Corey, Natalee’s brother, made that part of his toast – a total surprise, but so meaningful – and all the family members on both sides took a shot of Wild Turkey to celebrate the day as one BIG family.

We both agree that Marriage to us feels like such a privilege since it wasn’t a possibility for so long, and we don’t ever want to take that for granted.

Marriage to us is like having a permanent teammate for the game of ‘life.’ Marriage challenges us – makes us better individually, better to others, and makes us want to do and be better for each other always. We both feel so honored to have our “ride or die” by our sides!