The Waters

Wedding Day

Wedding

Reception

Our Wedding

Caleb and I took a trip to Florida where he surprised me with a reservation to swim with dolphins - my absolute favorite and his...not so much. When we got to Discovery Cove, a worker showed us the way to our private cabana. It was beautiful - a view of the dolphin beach, palm trees all around, and a fridge stocked with unlimited beer and wine. I was shocked, I had no idea Caleb had reserved it! I thought that was the only surprise, but I'll get to that later ;)&nbsp;He and I spent the day snorkeling with tropical fish and stingrays, floating down the lazy river, and just relaxing on the beach.&nbsp;Finally it was our turn to swim with&nbsp;the dolphins - I was so excited. The rain and clouds cleared up and&nbsp;the sun came out. We had such a blast with our dolphin, Yoko! As we were finishing up, our trainer said that our pictures didn't turn out and that they needed to redo them. So everyone else in our group got out of the water, along with the other groups (which, little did I know, included Jana Kramer!!!). It was just Caleb and I in the water and the photographer retook our photos. The trainer said that we could try out a "fetch" trick with the dolphin. They had Caleb stand behind me as the dolphin swam up&nbsp;with a buoy that said, "Courtney, Will You Marry Me?" They had me turn around and give my response, which was obviously YES YES YES! We went back to our cabana where the photographer and videographer were waiting for us. Caleb got down on one knee and officially asked me to marry him.&nbsp;It couldn't have gone any more perfect and I&nbsp;cannot wait to&nbsp;marry my best friend!

The Proposal ...as told by her

It all started when we were planning our weekend trip to Orlando this past fall. We had everything booked and ready to go, but I decided to surprise Courtney with a day at Discovery Cove so that she could swim with dolphins. She loves them and always talked about how much fun she had when she did it years ago. What I didn’t tell her is that I reserved a private cabana next to the dolphins and the unlimited picture and video package. I told her this was because I wanted her to have pictures of when she swam with them, but really it was making sure I had everything covered. I knew one of the most vital parts that Courtney wanted in a proposal was to have pictures of it. Check.&nbsp; When we got to the park, it was arranged that I would go to the bathroom and there would be a worker waiting to grab the ring for safe keeping. That was a major relief because I knew having it on me only provided a greater chance of Courtney “accidentally” finding it. We arrived at the park at 7AM and were told that our time with the dolphins was going to be at 1PM or later. I originally thought we would be in the first group, so this meant I had to go through the entire day without letting her know I was up to something. Not easy. When we finally did get our time with the dolphins it was later in the day and it had started to rain. The proposal idea was that at the end of the swim, where a dolphin would bring Courtney a buoy that read “Courtney, will you marry me?” To start the dolphin swim off, the trainer called me out by my first name, which quickly got me a suspicious look from Courtney considering I had never met them before. The dolphin swim was awesome, but I can’t really remember any of it because I spent the entirety of the time worrying about whether or not they were going to remember the buoy. At the very end of the swim the group was walking back to shore, when the trainer said our pictures didn’t quite turn out. They asked Courtney if she would help teach “Yoko”, our dolphin, a new trick. I knew this was the cue so I drifted back to make sure the cameras could get the perfect picture. Courtney saw a dolphin in the distance go under water with a buoy, and I could hear her saying quietly “Cal&hellip;Cal&hellip;You’re not serious.” As the crowd of people cheered and congratulated us, I gave Courtney a big hug and could tell she was in a state of absolute shock because she had no clue what to say. A true rarity. While we were at our dolphin swim, a crew was busy setting up a table at our cabana so that when we went got back, the ring would be all set and ready. As we walked back I could see the tears starting to form in her eyes as she was still in shock. There was a collection of workers taking pictures and the worker that was assigned to our cabana (Thanks for everything Jeff!) was waiting at the entrance. I grabbed the ring and got on one knee and asked her to marry me as any true prince charming would.&nbsp; She said yes and I put the ring on her finger and gave her a big kiss. The next step was to call everyone she had ever come into contact with (haha) to let them know she was engaged!! Courtney never thought she would be able to cry at her own proposal, but she did and it was the most emotional I ever seen her. She was speechless, crying, and had to keep telling herself “I’m engaged, I’m engaged, I’m engaged”. Everything went just as planned and even though Courtney will tell you she saw it coming, I will never forget that moment and every emotion we shared on that day,&nbsp;November 11, 2017.

The Proposal...as told by him

Our Story

Details

Chris DeRue

Ivy Nicholson

Conor Haley

Audrey Vanderkolk

Matthew Willems

Lexy Kuepper

Danielle Deardorff

Luke Willems

Nick Seketa

Shannon Brandli

Chloe Haley

Drew Haack

Rachel Casey

Zack Palowski

Brandon Willems

Wedding Party

Photos

Registry

Q + A

5 min drive/1.4 miles to The Waters

They do not do room blocks, but when you mention the Haley/Willems Wedding, they will give you a discounted rate.&nbsp;

9/20 (Friday) Rate:&nbsp;$139.99

9/21 (Saturday) Rate: $119.99

*Rooms are 2 Queen Beds

Best Western Premier Waterfront Hotel & Convention Center

Other choice that is in the area, but do not have a room block or discounted rate.

La Quinta Inn by Wyndham Oshkosh

Comfort Suites

Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Oshkosh

**SHUTTLES WILL RUN FROM 2:45 P.M. - 4:45 P.M. AND AGAIN FROM 9:30 P.M. - 11:30 P.M.

Courtney & Caleb

Courtney & Caleb

Travel

Best Western Premier Waterfront Hotel & Convention Center

La Quinta Inn by Wyndham Oshkosh

Comfort Suites

Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Oshkosh

Hilton Garden Inn Oshkosh