Nils and Katie

09/10/2016

Moosic, PA, United States

Nils and I have been together since 2012. There are conflicting stories about how we actually crossed paths, but my version is the truth. So here goes. I was a senior at Susquehanna University. One of my friends whom had graduated two years prior wanted to come back to college for the weekend and asked if he could stay at my house, which of course was not a problem. Over the next week, he called several more times to say that he was bringing additional friends with him who needed somewhere to stay. Finally, I let him know we were at capacity- I hadn't asked my roomates if this was a problem and our house wasn't that large. He said he'd coordinate somewhere else for the last two guys to stay, but that they were still coming over before we all went out for the night. As I went into my kitchen to make a drink, there was Nils. Standing with his hands in his pockets next to my microwave. Faced with a near stranger in the kitchen, I introduced myself. He let me know he had, coincidentally, just moved to my hometown of Scranton, after which I was able to give him a true taste of Scranton with the various local Scranton beers I kept on hand in my fridge, courtesy of my father. We hit it off and we've been best friends ever since. It's also a running joke that when Nils goes out with the guys, he's not to stand next to any microwaves.... clearly that's where the ladies will pick you up.

He proposed Memorial Day Weekend of 2015. It was a true Nils proposal- unique, really well thought out and flawless. We were at his family's farm in Gettysburg, PA. We had gotten dressed up for dinner and took an antique car out just for fun. Their driveway is a quarter mile long, and when we pulled in after dinner there were signs all up the side of the driveway with flowers and balloons, each building on the message before it. The final sign said "You're the Love of My Life", and he pulled the car over to an arbor that was set up with flowers and rose petals leading up and got down on one knee. It was the most amazing moment of my life. Also important to note that one of his sisters got poison ivy hiding in the bushes to get photos of the moment, which is hilarious and not funny all at the same time.

On to wedding planning! We had selected September 10, 2016 as it was the weekend that my grandparents, who are no longer with us, were married in 1947. Having them as such a strong example of the love, laughs and support that define a partnership people could only dream of confirmed that we should begin our jouney at the same starting line. My grandmother left me her wedding rings when she passed, which I had made into a necklace to match my mother's of her grandmother's rings. I wore it for our wedding and know they were with me. The ceremony and reception both took place at Glenmaura National Golf Club. It was the first venue we looked at and the last we seriously considered. Being there pulled the entire vision of our wedding together with the amazing view from where we'd be married to the tent on the property that we could easily imagine the reception being a blast in. Glenmaura along with the rest of our dream team of vendors made planning so easy. We waited for something to go wrong, like all of the wedding planning horror stories passed down for generations, and it never did.

My personal favorite part of the day, and what many others have cited as their favorite as well, were our vows. We opted to write our own so that they were as organic and genuine to us as possible. Nils of course had pre-planned his with weeks of prep, ultimately printing them out on a small sheet of paper he could easily store in his suit pocket. Mine were on an 8.5x11 sheet because I wrote them and printed them in the Hilton lobby the morning of our wedding. It didn't change the meaning behind them, just evidence that we are functioning opposites. Inciting laughs and tears, this is the one part of the day I'm so happy we opted for. We read them under the arbor that Nils & his brother had built which we will now have for the yard of our first home. The rest of the ceremony was done by Nils' Pastor from his hometown of Gettysburg. Pastor Herr had also married Nils' sister and his mother and stepfather, so he was an obivous choice to carry on the tradition.

Savings the best for last... THE DRESS. As with any person who just got engaged, I immediately received several copies of The Knot as a gift. I remember very vividly opening the first copy and skimming through stopping dead in my tracks on the Remmington from Hayley Paige. That was it, I was a Hayley Paige diehard. I filled my Pinterest board with pictures of the Remmington from every single angle and was positive that was it, that was my wedding dress. When the time came to start shopping, I called Nordstrom at King of Prussia and let them know THIS was my dress, inquiring if they could have it there when I arrived for my appointment. They let me know they would see what they could do, unable to make any promises. It turned out they weren't able to get it in the store at the time, but recommended that i should still come to my appointment since they had other HP styles available. I walked in to the store, spotted the Elysia immediately, grabbed it off the rack, tried it on and that was it. Done, sold, loved it, first time was a charm. Nordstrom had me try a few other styles on but it wasn't even fair to the Elysia to try and compare it to other wedding dresses. I've never felt so amazing in a dress, and I loved it from the very moment I laid eyes on it. As a side note, I started out as a fan of Hayley Paige style, and ended up a fan of Hayley Paige. I had a few slight alterations issues with my gown and went straight to the source messaging Hayley on Instagram for a resolution. She got right back to me and couldn't have been any sweeter. For someone who is enjoying such mass success, she's totally grounded and absolutely real. I've told everyone that would listen to me this story and will continue to do so.

Overall, there is nothing I would change about the day from the potential thunderstorm that never happend, the heat wave, the family and friends we are so lucky to have celebrate with us and the ceremony that solidified a marriage we are so thrilled to be in. Like I was told, the day flew by. Having found someone that I want to joke with every day, the first person to call when something great or something terrible happens, that person you want to wake up next to and come home to at the end of a long day, someone I want to Christmas shop with and for, someone I want to have a family with. Someone that takes the sting out of BS like grocery shopping, cleaning bathrooms, doing taxes... that's our real wedding story, and it's just getting started.