Jacob and Mary's Wedding in Benton Harbor, Michigan

They have spent most of their time together as a long distance couple, so Jacob and Mary have loved being closer together while living in Arizona. They have made many memories exploring the beautiful desert and spending time with their fur babies, Maisy, Cyrano, and Kaboodle.

Our Proposal:

Jacob had had the idea to propose to Mary at the Phoenix Zoo for a long time, and on Saturday, June 27th he finally made it happen! They've been members of the zoo for over a year, and it is a favorite weekend activity of theirs. The zoo had been closed for a few months, but once it reopened they made reservations to visit and Jacob started putting his plan into action.

All morning Mary noticed that Jacob was acting a little differently and wondered if something might be going on. As they moved much more quickly past some of their favorite exhibits than they usually would have, she became more and more suspicious. Jacob stopped to show her the map on his phone to figure out where they should go next. Mary looked at the map and saw a picture of the two of them on it right in the spot where they were standing, then looked at Jacob and saw that he was on one knee asking her to marry him!

Our Vendors:

Aside from being absolutely beautiful, which was what initially drew us to Stonegate Manor, we loved that there was an elopement package that included flowers and cake (we were planning just a few weeks out so the fewer details to worry about the better!), and that the venue was dog friendly so we could invite the furry guests we love so much. Plus, the location in West Michigan meant that we could get some photos by beautiful Lake Michigan before the ceremony, which was great since we didn't have time to do engagement photos before the big day! Jaime with Jaime Rose Photography captured all of the moments of the day so beautifully, from our casual shots at the beach to our special moments during the ceremony. And she even managed to get all four dogs to look her way for the group photos! Jaime was the best, and having such a beautiful location and venue combined with an amazing photographer made it so easy to have a great wedding day.

What we loved about doing a tiny wedding:

We loved how simple and stress-free the day was. We are planning to do a larger wedding in a few years, post-pandemic, but there was something really special about our super small guest list of just our immediate family, only having a couple vendors to work with, and getting ready for the day together. It took a lot of the pressure off that I’ve heard can sometimes come with bigger weddings, and we found that we could just relax and enjoy the day together! No jitters!

It will definitely be a great story to tell that we got married during a global pandemic! In talking with our broader groups of family, friends, co-workers, etc. we found that many people were especially excited for us given how challenging this year has been. People have told us that it has been joy for them to be excited for us and that it has been a happy spark during the monotony of working from home and not having many events going on. We also loved the texts and social media messages people sent us on the day and during the days surrounding our wedding. Even though just a handful of people were with us in person, we truly felt surrounded and supported by everyone in our lives from afar.