How did you meet?

We met at WVU through mutual friends. I has classes with roommate and fraternity brother as we had the same major. His roommate was actually dating my roommate and sorority sister as well. So many people in our bridal party are from meeting them at WVU and being in our sorority and fraternity. I later found out (within the last year or two) that the occasional times that Eric and I “happened” to be in the same place, turned out to be totally organized by him and his roommate! From what I gather, his roommate would tell Eric I was or would be there somewhere and then Eric would decide to join in/show up! Clearly he was the one making the moves in our relationship. The first thing I noticed about him were his dimples….but I think that everyone else does too! The dimples definitely caught my attention and I wanted to get to know him as well!

Tell me about the proposal!

Soooooo here’s a ton of words you will probably think I could have summarized rather than ramble on – but here we go…. Eric’s family still has some property where he grandpa was raised a couple hours south of where we live. We went down there over fathers day weekend in 2018 just to spend some time getting away from everyday life and rushing around. We invited my parents to come for the weekend – my mom was not able to come but my dad was! We also invited his family to come down and they planned on coming for the day on Sunday for a big family cookout. Eric planned all of this telling everyone it was like a “Father’s Day Cookout/Get together”. He kept it a secret from everyone somehow! He asked my dad’s blessing while we were down there on Saturday. That evening Eric said he wanted to go for a 4-wheeler ride around the property – which was a completely normal thing for us to do….but he was acting super strange, and fidgety/rushing around so I thought something was definitely up. It wasn’t until we were actually riding around that I thought that he might be proposing as he didn’t notice anything on our ride! He is definitely a nature/outdoorsy/hunting/fishing all the time type guy – and when I was pointing out all the deer that he wasn’t seeing I knew his mind was on something else…. Well we went to the top of the biggest hill on the property that overlooks hills on all sides, and there was a BEAUTIFUL sunset. He stopped the 4-wheeler and said lets get a picture – which was totally not something he typically does…He then told me to get off the 4-wheeler, almost in a rush and I knew something was off. He then used his mini tripod to hold up his phone onto his 4-wheeler handlebars, set a timer, and walked over and got a picture. He then went to “check the picture” and said it didn’t work and we were getting another one. When he walked back over to me he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! Turns out when he went back to the camera he set it to video and he got a video of the whole thing! He was then able to take a screenshot of one of the video frames and it is a beautiful picture that we love….we both look a fit rough from being out in the hot sun getting dirty all day – but the sunset and the sentiment was perfect. We hung out on the top of the hill for a bit, then rode back to the house to tell my dad and his pap! Then we started calling immediate family to share to news with them as well!

What was your favorite part of wedding planning?

Getting to meet all sorts of small business owners. We have been able to work with small/family owned businesses for most aspects of wedding planning. We have also met some truly great people who really want to see our day be perfect and that means so much to us that people can care so much about someone they just met! I have LOVED feeling like everything is personal, and not just some transaction of getting you out the door with a sale made. It has felt good when people truly care! Also, we LOVED the tasting with the caterer and the different bakeries for the cake! I (Steph) LOVE sweets so the cake tasting was pretty great!

What inspired your vision for your wedding day? Do you have a theme or color palette? How do you envision your ideal wedding day?

We like it when weddings are taken serious and have genuine meaning, while the receptions are relaxed and all about everyone having fun and celebrating. Our colors are burgundy, navy, ivory and lots of greenery. We want everyone to be able to be in the moment while at the ceremony, but then hope that everyone can let loose and relax and have fun at the reception. We want to be able to be relaxed and enjoy our immediate family and bridal party company prior to the ceremony.

What is the most anticipated moment of your wedding day? If you could only choose one photo to walk away from your wedding day with, what would it be?

Steph – Seeing each other at opposite ends of the aisle – one photo would be a picture of him as soon as he sees me at the end of the aisle. Eric – Seeing each other at opposite ends of the aisle – one picture would be us walking back down the aisle together after we were just married. But if we could pick a third picture it would totally be the 1st kiss! (we didn’t follow directions very well with this question)

• Hair Stylist- Ashley Eaton & Annie Hackney
• Make Up Artist- Angela Judy (IG: makeupby_angelajudy)
• Bride’s Dress Salon & Alterations & Veil- Sorelle Bridal Salon
• Brides Dress Brand- Stella York
• Bridesmaid Dress Salon- Sorelle Bridal Salon
• Bridesmaid Dress Brand- Sorella Vita
• Brides Heels- Badgley Mischka
• Brides Boots- Corral Boots
• Hair Comb, Jewelry, Garter, Invites- Etsy
• Suits- Jos A Banks
• Suspenders- Bioterti off of Amazon
• Videographer- Dorosh Documentaries
• Ceremony Venue- St. Joseph the Worker Church
• Officiant- Father Dennis Schuelkens, Jr.
• Reception Venue- Bramblewood
• Caterer- Armstrong’s Restaurants
• Band/DJ- Entertainment Tonight – Tracy Painter
• Bakery/Cake/Baked Goods- Love & Cake – Maria Maiorano (IG: loveandcake7 )
• Stationery and Paper Goods- Etsy
• Florist- Forget Me Not Flowers – Kathy Oravitz
• Jeweler/Rings- Steph’s – Jared Eric’s – handmade by his pap