We met in January of 2019 at a party at Ryan’s house. What started as a fun night quickly turned into an easy friendship. From the very beginning, we just clicked — laughing effortlessly, talking for hours, and realizing we genuinely enjoyed being around each other.

That summer, life brought us even closer. In true “figuring out our early twenties” fashion, we both needed places to stay — and somehow ended up living together in three different apartments over the course of the summer of 2019. Somewhere between moving boxes and late-night conversations, our friendship quietly grew into something more.

In June, we took a trip to Chicago to visit one of Ryan’s best friends, Kenny. Ryan says that during that trip, he knew he didn’t just want to be friends — he knew he wanted us to be together. When we got home on June 14th, he asked me to be his girlfriend. (Spoiler alert: I said yes.)

We spent the next two years dating long distance. Those years built a foundation of trust, patience, and commitment that shaped our relationship in the best way.

Eventually, we closed the distance and moved to Jackson, Michigan for Ryan’s job and my clinical rotations. From there, new opportunities led us to Grand Rapids — where we rented a house for a year and completely fell in love with West Michigan life. After many conversations (and lots of Zillow scrolling), we started house hunting and closed on our first home in February of 2024.

Making our house a home together has been one of our favorite adventures yet. Around that same time, we went ring shopping. Ryan completely surprised me with a proposal on the beach at Hoffmaster State Park, my favorite place to spend summer days reading by the water.

Since then, we’ve been happily wedding planning and soaking in this season of engagement. We are so grateful for the journey that brought us here — from a college party to building a life and home together.

We cannot wait to celebrate with our favorite people as we begin this next chapter as husband and wife. Thank you for being part of our story — it truly means the world to us.

J&R

Wedding Day

Ceremony

Reception