We were best friends throughout high school and continued to grow closer and closer after I graduated high school in 2013. Taylor moved away for beautician school, but that did not stop us from frequently visiting each other. When I was done with high school and Taylor finished her schooling at Paul Mitchell, we moved in together. It took a few years to accept that our love for one another would not fade and to accept ourselves as individuals, but we finally did what each of our hearts desired.
Tell us about the proposal.
I proposed to Taylor at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, CO, on her birthday, 11/15/2018. I had initially planned on proposing to her at Rocky Mountain National Park later on in our trip to Colorado. Still, I could not wait any longer and decided to propose sooner. Plus, it would be easier to remember our proposal date!
Pretending I was going to set up a timed picture of us looking out at the mountains, so she was not facing the camera at the time. I got my phone set up, walked down closer to her, almost tripping on the way down, so she turned around, and I thought she saw what I was doing, but thankfully she didn’t! Just waiting for her to turn around and see me down on one knee. When she finally turned around (and gasped), I had her ring ready for her in a geode ring box. I wrote her a poem that talked about our incredible relationship and included all of the things I love about her. After reading the poem, she said YES! It was such a perfect day, and I’m so happy I didn’t wait a day longer to propose!
You had a unique wedding day stress, tell us about that.
Taylor and I had very opposite attitudes leading up to the wedding. I was stressed out and worried not everything would be in order by the time of the wedding. Taylor was extraordinarily carefree and trusted that everything would fall into place.
The morning of the wedding, Taylor was outside decorating the ceremony area. She was trimming her dream catchers so they could be hung up in the trees and snipped her left index finger knuckle with scissors. I, being a nurse, was told I needed to assess her finger since it would not stop bleeding. This was after the part in the day when we were not supposed to see each other before the first look.
As I check on her, my maid of honor is wrapping her finger with electrical tape because it was the only thing available at the time. We also told Taylor she probably needed stitches, and she responded by saying, “we don’t have time for stitches today.” Taylor had to change her finger dressing multiple times throughout the day because her finger would not stop bleeding. It was still bleeding even on our honeymoon numerous days later. So here I am stressed about my soon-to-be wife’s finger bleeding uncontrollably, and Taylor is over here stressed that her wrapped finger will be in wedding pictures forever. We clearly balance each other out.
What led you to the venue?
We chose to have our wedding and reception at Timber Creek Event Center in St. Joseph, MO, because we both live in St. Joseph, so most of our family is from this area. We always loved the venue; it is so beautiful! We had initially thought we would have a destination wedding, but I went with my friend to view Timber Creek in anticipation of her wedding and fell in love. So I told Taylor we had to have our wedding there. Of course, she agreed because she could tell how serious I was and how much I loved it. After she saw the venue for herself, she agreed completely.
Telll us about the DIY projects that brought to life your wedding day.
Yes, a ton! Taylor is very crafty and made several things for the wedding. She actually did all of the indoor and outdoor decorating. Although she was open to helping, she had a vision in her head of what the ceremony and reception would look like and ended up doing a lot of it herself.
She decorated moss balls with different greenery and succulents. She made many dream catchers that we hung in several trees leading to the ceremony. At our wedding, we had our two-year-old Goldendoodle, Juke, so she made him a succulent collar.
I love to do woodworking in my spare time, so I made a lot of decor and wedding signs. I made two large wood arbors for decorations/backdrops, one was triangle-shaped, and the other was hexagon-shaped. And I made wood lanterns for centerpieces and smaller wood triangles and hexagons for centerpieces too. Also, I made all of the wedding signs we had at our ceremony and reception by using our Cricut. I also built our wedding entrance sign stand out of a copper pipe.
Talk to us about your experience finding your perfect outfits.
Taylor went with her maid of honor to a Bridal Shop in Cincinnati, OH where she had no intentions of actually finding her dress. They mainly were going just for fun. However, Taylor found the one, and it was the fifth dress she tried on. She was hesitant to purchase it because she wasn’t expecting to find a dress, it was still pretty far from our wedding date, and she did not have her family there trying on dresses. The bridal worker asked her, “when you go dress shopping again, are you going to be looking for a dress like this one or like something else?” Taylor said she would be looking for something like the one she had tried on and loved. So this just re-confirmed that she needed to buy it. Plus, it was a discontinued dress, and it was her exact size.
I got my wedding dress from All My Heart Bridal in Lee’s Summit, MO. I went with a group of friends and Taylor. She was “allowed” to see my wedding dress to ensure it “matched” her dress, but I never saw her dress until our first look on the day of the wedding. I am not one to wear dresses normally, so I wasn’t that excited about dress shopping, but I actually really enjoyed the process and had so much fun doing it! I chose the third dress I tried on, and it made me cry. That is when I knew I had to buy it. I’ve never had an article of clothing make me cry. It was wild.
And, was the wedding day everything you had dreamt it might be?
We started by finishing up decorating the outside ceremony area. Then we had our makeup and hair done. At this point, Taylor and I were separated into different areas of the venue.
We had our first looks with our dads and then with each other. After that, we took pictures with each other and then our bridesmaids. Then we went back to the venue to “pre-game” before the ceremony. After that, we had a short ceremony that included us pouring dirt into a unity plant and sharing our private vows.
After the ceremony, we started our reception, where we served dinner to everyone before the party got started. Unfortunately, I ended up passed out on the venue’s bathroom floor by ten pm from too many Truly’s. One would say I slept through the clean-up and the rest of the party on purpose, but I swear I didn’t. We left the venue that night so happy and excited to start our honeymoon and lives together.
Anything you are glad you did? Or wish you didn’t do?
We are so happy we did our vow ceremony in private. We also are glad we went ahead and paid to have a videographer in addition to a photographer. Having had a caricature at the reception instead of a photo booth, and we are so happy with that decision. Our Goldendoodle got walked down the aisle right before the flower girls, and we would not change all the attention that got taken away from us because of him.
Follow your heart and trust your instinct. We can’t imagine our lives without each other and the love we would have missed out on if we didn’t take a chance on each other.
Photography by Mindful Media KC
Bridespeople Outfits Pink Blush Maternity
Cake Crumbs by Breanne
Caricature FigsCaricature
Catering Hyvee
Cinematographer Hidden Perspective by Jase Rivera
Decorative Elements Hobby Lobby, Joannes, Michael’s
Florist & Flower Crown Treasure Gardens
Gown Boutique All My Heart Bridal, Lace Bridal Couture
H&MU Valerie Steele
Jacket & Pants Tip Top Tux
Seamstress Sew Sweet Alterations
Stationery Shutterfly
Venue Timber Creek Event Center
