Wes and Amanda met for the first time on the 7th floor of Mercy Hospital in Muskegon in the Spring of 2019. Their paths crossed for one day while Wes was there finishing up his medical school rotations and Amanda was finishing up her intern year of residency.

They met again later in summer 2019 when Wes started his family medicine residency at Mercy Health in Muskegon. For several months they enjoyed working together and became easy friends. In December of that year, Wes texted Amanda asking if she wanted to go to downtown Grand Rapids with him later that week to do all things Christmas! Amanda COULD NOT have been more excited!! For their first date they ate at Social House and explored all the downtown decorations and ended the evening driving through the lights at LMCU ballpark. They continued hanging out for the weeks and months that followed. In March of 2020, Wes made the solo drive to Kentucky immediately after finishing a board exam to join Amanda at her best friend’s wedding, and she knew then that he was a keeper.

When COVID hit not long after, their relationship was impacted by travel restrictions, changes at work, and social distancing. They continued to spend time together going for walks, watching movies at home, and making meals together.

In December 2020, after a year of dating, they made the difficult and heartbreaking decision to break up and spend some time apart. As they continued to work together, they remained friends; however, when Amanda graduated from residency in June 2021, she knew she wouldn’t see or hear from Wes for the foreseeable future.

FAST FOWARD TO FEBRUARY 2022.

Amanda was SHOCKED (and excited) to receive a text from Wes asking her to get breakfast with him that coming weekend (he knew breakfast was the way to her heart 😏). When Saturday came, a very nervous Amanda met Wes at Mr. B’s in Muskegon, where they spent the first hour catching up on the previous 9 months. Eventually Wes brought up that he had missed Amanda and wanted to give their relationship another try. They entered into their relationship a second time with intention and so much joy.

The following months were filled with travel, bike rides, kayak adventures, and Amanda’s sister, Cailey’s, wedding. They could both tell that things felt different this time around. As the holidays came and went, their relationship continued to grow and they both began to realize that they wanted this forever.

On Oct 6, 2023 (which happens to be Amanda’s parents anniversary), Amanda joined the Schermer’s in Traverse City for a fall getaway vacation and to celebrate Wes’ 30th birthday! That evening, prior to dinner, Wes took Amanda across the street to look at the West Bay. They spent time talking, looking for Petoskey stones, and enjoying the views. Wes then asked if he could read her something he had wrote and before Amanda knew it, he was on a knee asking her to be his wife. It was the easiest yes she’d ever said. They then went back up to the house where they were staying, and Amanda was shocked to see that her family had come up from Ohio to join and celebrate with them. It was the best day!! 🎉

In the time since, they’ve spent their time together enjoying family and friends while having a blast wedding planning and they could not be more excited to share this special day with you!