The Vintage Barn at Merefield Farm

Our Rehearsal Dinner

Our Wedding Day

Ceremony

Reception

Our Wedding

Caroline's Story/////// Our love story has been the furthest thing from easy. When all odds were against us----The Lord was for us. I knew Dirk-Philip was special the day that I met him and I knew I'd love to marry him after our first date, crazy I know. I fell HARD. I remember crawling in bed after our date and just asking The Lord to keep Dirk close to me, and oh boy, did He ever do that in the most mysterious way. The timing and long-distance circumstances from the start were not ideal, but we came to realize that our love broke every wall that tried to get in the way. The person you marry should make YOU better and Heaven should be a fuller place when you are hand in hand with them. Dirk-Philip is that to me. He makes me seek stronger, dream deeper, live freer, dance longer, and love greater. He points me to Jesus daily and reminds me of the power that is inside of me because of The Holy Spirit. He leads me to positivity when I am consumed with anxious thoughts. He displays abounding grace when I fall short. He makes me MORE me. On our wedding day, The Lord will complete what we have been waiting for for a long time, and we can't wait to celebrate the gift of marriage with each of you. Until then, please pray for Dirk-Philip and I to continue to prepare in becoming husband and wife. For The Lord to continue to refine and teach us as we prepare for that blessing. Dirk-Philip's Story////// Lets start at the beginning. I go to a college friend’s Birthday party one night, not thinking anything of it. Assuming I would know everyone there, I arrive and see familiar faces everywhere but in a blink of an eye there’s this girl in yellow. The only person at this house that I have never seen before and I am immediately intrigued. “Who is that?” I asked, someone answered “O it’s Caroline, she went to high school with me.” To this day I am not sure who said that because I didn’t take my eyes off of her to look at anything else for the rest of the night. Self assured I approached this golden goose trying to make her at least notice me. As Buddy boy (Caroline’s grandfather) says “Kentucky is known for two things, pretty horses and fast women”. I spent most of the night trying to be in the same room as her, but it was impossible. When I went inside, she went out to talk to friends and when I went out, she went in to dance. At last I saw her legs got tired from all the walking and she took a seat on the porch outside. I went to sit next to her and have a chat as South Africans would say. I asked “where are you from?”, with lots of attitude and enthusiasm she replied “where are YOU from?” We talked through the whole accent thing where she realized I was not the only one with an accent. This is a silly story about how we met but what a journey it has been since. Mark Batterson calls it God’s divine intervention. Without those little moments, life is pointless if we cannot look back and remember where it all started. Our love story have been everything but easy, if you think about all the challenges that were thrown our way during the time when we just started dating. Looking back I wouldn’t have it any other way, I can say that our foundation was set talking for 4 hours a night on Facetime with an 8 hour time difference. In this past year while being engaged to Caroline, I have fallen deeper and deeper in love with the person that she is. Ultimately we love because God first loved us and what a gift we have to touch lives with our marriage. I am excited about our future, the difference we will make and grateful for the gift of being able to serve my queen.

A God Sent Kinda LOve

Our Story

Photos

Ellie Purnell

"the woman who knows me better than I  know myself"

Marcie Hughes

Ellie Sauder

Hope Clark

"my safe place during my time at Georgetown"

Emma Hite

"my forever lake friend and summer camp companion"

Becca Tarter

"my go-to friend for a good ole belly laugh"

Aly Case

"first my friend, now my future beloved sister-in-law"

Lara van den Berg

"the one who helped get me through nursing school...literally"

Katie Beth Donohue

Jaco van den Berg

Michael Donohue

Robin Flattery

Clay Hughes

Matthew Purnell

JC Botha

Ben Cachares

Tinley Oliver

Adelaide Burtch

Jude Oliver

Abel Burtch

William van Wyk

Wedding Party

Q + A

Irish Acres Gallery of Antiques (Glitz to eat)

Horse Country

Castle & Key Distillery

Woodford Reserve Distillery

Churchill Downs

Wallace Station Deli and Bakery

The Stave

The Kentucky Castle

Martine's Pastries

Black Type Co.

Glo Best Western Lexington

Hyatt Place Lexington

Elwood Hotel & Suites

Kentucky Horse Park

The Summit at Fritz Farm

Crank & Boom Craft Ice Cream (Manchester)

Pasta Garage Catering

Magee's Baking Co

The Local Taco Lexington

Lockbox

Carson's Food & Drink

Epping's on Eastside

Quality food, especially if you are in the mood for a nice steak!

OBC Kitchen

I have never been but I heard it's good!!

Dudley's On Short

Travel, Food and Experiences

Our Registry

Dirk-Philip & Caroline