Our Lady of Guadalupe Church

Ceremony

Knights of St. John Hall

Reception

Our Wedding

Brandon texted me asking if I wanted to meet him half way between Dayton and Russia for a first date, so I said sure. He said how about Stillwater. I also said sure not realizing that was only like 15 minutes for him and an hour for me, but yes definitely half way, haha. I just remember not knowing where I was going until I pulled into a parking lot with trees surrounding it and I had almost no service. When I got out of my car, the first thing I noticed about him was his big smile and his awkward hug he gave me. He then said let’s go on a walk and took off walking towards a path in the trees. At this point I’m thinking 1. Middle of nowhere, 2. In the woods, 3. No service. . . he is for sure going to murder me. Anybody that knows Brandon, knows that when he is nervous, he talks a lot and walks really fast. Well it’s in the fall, in the middle of the woods, and I’m allergic to nature, so as Brandon is 5 steps ahead of me talking my ear off, I’m huffing and puffing trying to keep up with him and just focusing on not dying and also thinking I really should have brought my inhaler and taken allergy medicine. In the end, I can’t remember a single thing Brandon talked about, but I knew I thought he was funny. After walking around for a long time, we ended up leaving and as I was headed back to Dayton, I remember telling myself I just met the man I’m going to marry. I don’t know how I can go from he’s going to murder me to I’m going to die from all the trees and walking so fast to I’m going to marry that man, but somehow that’s how it happened.

First Date: Her Side

I was really nervous. Usually when I'm nervous I talk a lot, but whenever I saw Melissa, right away I noticed her big smile. Even though I did most of the talking, I loved getting to know her and having a conversation with her. This was all while she was struggling to keep up with me on our walk, haha. I could tell from the beginning that Melissa was a sweet and genuine woman. Someone that I truly wanted to know better even though my last words to her on our 1st date were, "Well, I guess I'll talk to you some other time" and then I got in my car and left. What a dumb thing for me to say, haha. I tried to temper down my expectations for that 1st date not really getting my hopes up and just truly wanting to get to know Melissa. But man, after that 1st date, I really could not wait to see her again and get to know her even better. Eventually after a different date to a Dragon's game a few weeks later, I knew this girl was different and was someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

First Date: His Side

The day Brandon proposed, we had plans to go deep clean the carpets that smelled like cat pee in the house he had just bought. When I went to pick Brandon up, I said how he should just drive separate to go and rent a carpet cleaner and I would go start cleaning the house. He was determined he had to go to the house with me. Making me mad that he wouldn’t just go and get the carpet cleaner, I angrily drove to the house as he followed behind me in his car. When we got to the house, he knew I was mad at him because I wouldn’t talk to him. Breaking the silence though, Brandon told me, “Before you start cleaning, there’s something in the living room you need to see.” At this point, I angrily told him, “So help me Brandon if you are showing me one more thing wrong with this house, I’m making you sell it.” As I walked into the living room, there it was, a card table, with a vase of roses, Kit Kats, a letter, and a box that I knew had a ring in it. I instantly started saying, “No no no, what are you doing? No, no, no, no.” Brandon at this point got down on his knee and started talking. I have no idea what Brandon said at all because I was still yelling, “No no no, get up, what are you doing?” Brandon continued to talk and I still have no idea what he even said and I just blurted out, “Maybe, noooo wait, I guess.” Brandon finally snapped me out of it by saying, “Will you shut up woman for like 2 seconds for me to actually ask you to marry me.” He then said,”Will you marry me?” And the yes finally came out. So yeah, Brandon proposed to me in a cat piss smelling house. I was wearing a snoopy t-shirt that said, “Don’t make me do anything today” and I also didn’t even brush my hair that day. The card table he put everything on didn’t even have a table cloth and the Kit Kats were still in the bag, not even spread around on the table. Brandon didn’t care if it was romantic, but all he wanted was for me to be surprised and I most definitely was surprised.

The Proposal: Her Side 

So my original proposal to Melissa got spoiled and I really wanted to surprise her. We bought a house recently and after talking to her sister Jessie, she said to propose in our new house as a new plan after she found out about my original proposal. So I bought flowers, some of Melissa's favorite candy and set up a table to put all the things on. We had planned to clean the house together the next day, but she stopped by my parents and told me to get carpet cleaner to clean the house. I told her, "No, let me go to the house first, then I'll get the cleaner."She then got mad at me for not listening to her and drove off very angrily. As she got out of the car, she angrily handed me a bucket and mop. We walked into the house and I told her, "Hey Melissa, come in the living room there's something I want to show you."She then figured something was wrong with the house. When she walked in the living room, she saw the ring laying out and started laughing and smiling and then started saying her no's. She said no 11 times, haha. Then the 11 no's were followed with a "maybe," then "I guess I'll marry you," to the "YES!"On a side note, she didn't say yes against her will. She did warn me when we talked about proposals that if I surprised her, that she wouldn't know what would come out of her mouth. Whatever came out of her mouth would be a surprise to me and her both. So she did tell me she would probably say no due to shock, haha.

Brandon & Melissa

Brandon & Melissa

B&M

Ceremony

Reception