Welcome to our wedding website!

One of my fondest and most cherished memories in my entire life was when Claire entered my life… It may not shock most of you who are reading this to know that our first encounter was strictly business as we were trying to make a name for ourselves in Student Government, complete our homework, and partake in after-meeting vent-sessions at Gypsy Nickel Lounge (yes, we both agree that Gypsy vent-sessions were business as they happened so often and were mostly dominated by business talk). After about a few months of this, I decided to test the waters to see how she felt. She didn’t realize at the time that I was developing feelings for her and wanted to see how she felt about me. One night at one of our many trips with the usual group at Gypsy, I decided to experiment. She was sitting across from me, joking and laughing and carrying on, when I decided I would go play pool with a couple of the guys. I grabbed my beer and walked over periodically looking over at the table and I swear every time I glanced over at the table she was looking at me… ME!! – it was GREAT!! I finally had a clue! So, from there on, I flirted hard-core with her, wearing the best cologne I had, running as much as I could to tone up the bod, and dressed as best as I could to impress her. Fast forward a bit to the Grand Rapids Wine, Beer, and Food Festival. This was the day I told Claire how I felt about her. I had to finally step up to the plate and put my feelings out there before she moved away to FL for good and it was too late. My heart was beating out of my chest, my mouth was dry, and I remember thinking to myself that this was going to be the woman I would be spending the rest of my life with if she said she felt the same way… I needed help. Like any guy in this situation, sometimes you need a friend to hype you up, get you jacked, and give you that last little bit of courage to do the thing you really want to do anyway....Thank you Dylan...

It worked. Claire was finally alone, so I could have this private conversation – plus I didn’t want anyone to witness if she rejected me. I told Claire that I wanted our relationship to be more than just friends, more than us just working alongside each other on the Executive Board, and to not just be each other’s Beer Pong partner. She said yes… … Jumping to right now in the present as I write about how Claire entered my life and the profound affect she has had on it in every positive way imaginable, I am reminded of all of the reasons I love this woman: she is BEAUTIFUL (especially in this blue dress…), smart, ambitious, loving, professional, loves wheat beer, knows how to mix drinks, loves my cooking (even if it was an off-day, which are many), loves me unconditionally, loves my family, cares about what is going on in my life, and the list goes on forever – literally. I love you, Claire! I love you, all!! I cannot wait to see everyone at our wedding to celebrate the day we tie the knot!