Katelyn & Jared
Boy meets girl…boy and girl fall in love…girl goes off to basic training for months…boy and girl decide they would like to get married during her two week Christmas break…boy gets an idea…boy (with the help of both sets of parents and some more than willing friends) plans a surprise full blow wedding and reception for girl…girl comes home…boy asks girl a very special question…girl says “YES”…boy asks a second important question, “You busy next Saturday?”…and the rest is history!
That quick little excerpt is a very condensed version of story I have not been able to stop telling for the past month (seriously…ask most of my tours that have happened since the 27th of December). I could not believe it when my mom called me and told me that my cousin Katelyn’s boyfriend whom I had never met was wanting to put together a wedding for his future bride without her knowing! They knew for sure that they were wanting to get married even if they just had to go to the courthouse to do it, but Jared had bigger and better ideas. He wanted Katelyn to have the fairytale wedding of her dreams. And that is exactly what we gave her!
Katelyn came home from basic training on December 19th around 2 pm. Jared and Katelyn’s family picked her up at the airport and took her out to eat to kill some time before dark (you can’t really do a candlelight proposal in the middle of the day!) With both families present, Jared got down on one knee and asking the all important question - “Will you marry me?” And of course, Katelyn absolutely said yes.
After the first yes came the second very important part - letting Katelyn in on a little very well kept secret. “Are you busy next Saturday?” Thankfully, Katelyn is a very easy going person who was all for the crazy idea of getting the last few details (including a wedding dress) together in exactly a week! That didn’t stop an amazing reaction pictured below :P
Once she said yes for the second time, all that was left to do was buy a dress, go through premarital counseling, spend some much needed time with her one week fiance, celebrate Christmas, and get married. Easy, right? Amazingly enough, Katelyn and Jared were actually able to accomplish all of these things. David’s Bridal was AMAZING and had all of their seamstresses at the store for Katelyn’s dress appointment to make any quick alterations needed. She bought the dress on Sunday and had it altered and back in hand on WEDNESDAY. Absolutely phenomenal. Even though they had to switch ministers a few days before the wedding due to a COVID exposure, they were still able to fit in some premarital counseling sessions during that week of craziness.
It was a whirlwind week, but in the end, everything came together absolutely beautifully for Katelyn and Jared. Even though things are going to be tough with having to spend so much time apart right out of the gate, I cannot think of two more committed people to each other to make it work through thick and thin! Love you all! :)
