Wedding Day

Ceremony

Reception

Our Wedding

Caleb's Perspective

You know that thrilling feeling you get after dismounting your friend's BMW street motorcycle after he allowed you to “take it for a spin”—well, I don’t. But I imagine it’s similar to how I felt after my first conversation with Quinn. It was during our dorm's weekly get-together, where we paired with a female dorm for one big, awkward “family” dinner. There I was in the dimly lit University cafeteria, armed with my pure charisma that seemed to radiate off of the plastic cup gripped tightly in my hand. I sat across from someone new and intriguing. She piqued my interest—intelligent, cute, godly, joyful—so I did what any sensible gentleman would do at the time; I made a snarky comment about the color of my broccoli. Before long, this wonderful woman was having a long conversation with me. After leaving the dining hall and the rather flamboyant broccoli, I went to my dorm, where I found my younger brother, Jacob. As part of our contract (which I seemed to have misplaced), I spilled the beans about this outstanding woman I met. I talked on and on about how she knew so much about theology, how sweet she is, and how I was going to look up her name in our group chat because I had forgotten it. He responded by informing me of his strong desire to punch me (it was our martial arts night, after all). Upon leaving the dorm with my brother that night, lo and behold, we run into Quinn as she is blissfully skipping (the skipping could have been my imagination) back to her dorm. Strangely enough, these random occurrences of "bumping into each other” began to happen frequently. If that wasn’t strange already, it seemed to happen around the same time I began my new exercise routine of “going the long way to get to my dorm”—through the coed lounge—so I could “get my steps in.” I often took a couple hour breather, to talk to Quinn, after such an excruciating walking exercise. Well… that is… I’d take any excuse I could to spend time with her ;) After a few weeks I asked her out on a date—her reply was “Yes! Finally….” The date was amazing, except at the end when she told me that she wasn’t ready to date. For me, a soon to graduate man that knew not to continue with a relationship if the intentions were so different, I took this as a rejection. And yet, days after the date, I still found her spending time with me and interested in me. I quickly realized that her “not ready to date” was a matter of a couple weeks and not years of “becoming ready” as we drove to a chocolate shop a week after our first date. First dates turned into second and third dates, and before long we were boyfriend and girlfriend. On February 8th, 2025 I started calling her fiancée, after a nervous proposal at a rainy conservatory. Now I greatly look forward to calling her my wife on May 16th, 2026. Quinn is my best friend and I have a deep desire to be united to her in a lifelong covenant. I have never seen anyone with such a genuine passion for the Lord as she has. I desire our marriage to be a strong demonstration of the Gospel to both us and the world.

Quinn's Perspective

You know what will always hold a special place in my heart? Sprite. Because it was when I was swigging Sprite from a chipped dining hall cup that had definitely seen cleaner days that I realized I had fallen hard for Caleb Carlson. By all accounts, it seemed premature; I had only known him for a grand total of 10 minutes, and half of that time I had been more interested in shoveling the lettuce on my plate. Perhaps it was his delightful sense of humor coming out in his comments about his broccoli, or maybe it was his deep knowledge of Amish washing machines he was very enthusiastic to share (iykyk (; ). But I know the one thing about Caleb that I immediately perceived that led me to fall deeply in love with him: Caleb loves the Lord with a depth and passion that far exceeds his years, and he has always demonstrated his love for the Lord in beautiful ways to others. I had never met a man so mature, so godly, so very obviously in ownership of incredible hair. As we parted ways after dinner, I floated away to the library and immediately texted my parents to tell them about me and Caleb’s conversation (their exact words were “don’t read into it”--talk about not aging well). As my infatuation with Caleb quickly became undeniable, I resigned myself to loving him (and his hair) from afar. I was a floundering sophomore, and he was a confident, disciplined senior; I stood no chance of impressing him. But, as a sophomore with lots of homework to do, surely the responsible thing to do would be to study…in the coed lounge…trying to pose attractively on the stained chair…waiting for him to pass by. One glorious day, my prayers were answered, and Caleb walked through the lounge and joined me at the table. Somehow God gave me the ability to speak somewhat coherently despite my intense nervousness, and Caleb and I talked for over 2 hours. I floated again back to my room (as I seemed now to be in the habit of doing) and tried not to get my hopes up, reminding myself that surely as an RA, he was just interested in my spiritual well-being. But for some reason, a few short weeks later, his interest in my spiritual well-being seemed to include wondering what my favorite flowers were, what my dad’s phone number was, and whether I was free on Saturday, October 7th. (My answers were, respectively: “roses”, “208…”, and, I quote, “FINALLY!”).

Pictured above: us on our first date!

Any good story needs an unexpected twist, however, and this came in the form of a very awkward conversation outside a bakery. Up to this point in our first date, I had somehow managed not to trip over my 3-inch heels and keep the conversation flame from dying out. At this moment, though, our eyes locked, and after multiple weeks of sputtering dangerously, my ideas for conversation topics finally took its last gasp. I was left staring slack-jawed at a gorgeous man whom I adored with absolutely nothing to say. So in a moment of panic, I said the first thing that came to my mind and abruptly informed him that I wasn’t currently available to date. I explained that I was definitely interested in him, but I just needed a few weeks to pray about it and make sure the Lord was leading me in that direction. Apparently, however, I didn’t quite say it like that, and Caleb left our first date with the mistaken impression that I was never going to be interested in dating him. I, on the other hand, excitedly blabbered to my dear friend Gracie about the incredible man I couldn’t wait to date. Eventually, this misunderstanding was rectified when Caleb took me on a second date, and it became undeniably obvious that we were not going to be just friends. On October 26th, 2023, I let him know that if he was still interested, I was now ready and willing to date him, and we have been devoted to each other ever since. Caleb and I’s story began incredibly abruptly and unexpectedly, but our journey has not continued this way. God in His providence chose to make me 2 years younger than Caleb, and ever since May 2024, we have been in a long-distance relationship. But through all of the heartache, pain, and tear-stained notes in my prayer jar, God has been near to us and has continued to bless and be the center of our relationship. Caleb and I got engaged on February 8th, 2025 and are so, so looking forward to finally being united in a lifelong covenant on May 16th, 2026. If you are a believer in Christ, please pray for us that we would run this engagement period with endurance, honoring God with every hour before marriage and serving Him and each other every hour after that. Thanks be to God for blessing me with Caleb, who, second only to Christ, is the greatest love of my life!

Our Story

Photos

Ashton Daum

Jacob Carlson

Mikaela Daum

Joshua Carlson

Gracie Downing

James Schmidt

Annalina Lysne

Matthew Mangum

Sarah Powley

Willem van der Meij

Wedding Party

Q + A

In order to be part of the hotel block, rooms must be booked by Thursday, April 16th!

Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Lansing at Eastwood

Hotel Block

Things to Do

Registry

Caleb & Quinn

Caleb & Quinn

Hotel Block

Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Lansing at Eastwood