Mentor Plains United Methodist

Wedding Day

Wedding

The Patrician

Reception

Our Wedding

Jennifer and I met over a year and a half&nbsp;ago and at the time were leading two very busy and different lives. Initially after meeting&nbsp;we stopped talking for a short while and that&nbsp;was the biggest mistake of our lives!&nbsp; We both had&nbsp;that the feeling that "this is&nbsp;it, this is the one".......

 



Jennifer as you all know is an ER&nbsp;Nurse and would drive to work through&nbsp;the construction on route 91.&nbsp; Seeing&nbsp;a Police Officer directing traffic, she thought it was me and wanted to say Hi. Jennifer messaged me that evening and we have been inseparable ever since! We are so much&nbsp;more thankful and appreciative of each other now, knowing that we almost passed up the best thing that has ever happened in either of our lives.



 



Since Jennifer's fateful text to me, we have had a whirlwind of a year. We have gone on multiple dates and nights out. We have gone on vacation to Myrtle Beach and traveled to Columbus. We have had dinner on the Nautica Queen. Jennifer and I&nbsp;have been to comedy shows, dinner at Hibachi, dancing, movies, concerts, bon fires, parties and so much more. We could not imagine life without each other and could not image that our&nbsp;life together could be so great!

Jennifer & Gary

I had been considering asking Jennifer to marry me for a while. I felt like I was wasting time not asking her. I knew we had not even been dating a year, but when you know you know. I have never been engaged and obviously never been married. I knew what I was looking for and more importantly I knew what I needed to feel and Jennifer was it. Her energy was exactly what I had been searching for.

 







I spoke to my parents first and their response was "This is great idea, we love her! What are you waiting for?!" I then approached Jennifer's parents to ask their blessing. I made a special romantic appointment to meet Jennifer's father in the Walmart parking lot in Eastlake, while I was on duty. When I looked at him, I could tell he already knew what I was going to say. He confirmed that when he said, Nancy and I&nbsp;already figured this is what you wanted to talk about. He hugged me and we took a selfie and gave me his blessing!







 







I then set up a time a couple days later to meet with Jennifer's mother. Thankfully, she was able to meet me at my office at my martial arts school. I had to laugh because Jennifer's mother had the same feeling and figured this is what I&nbsp;wanted to talk to her about as well. We had a very good and long discussion about why I was asking, our past and our future. Jennifer's mother hugged me and provided me with her blessing as well. Having all the parents blessings made this that much more special.







 







Now I had to find the ring and set up the perfect night. Easier said than done. I went to Howard's Jewelry Store in the Great Lakes Mall and spoke with Shanevian. She is a trooper and was a huge help. She must have seen the "deer in the headlights" look on my face when I walked in. She explained everything to me and made the process as simple for me as she could. I still took up at least 2-3 hours of her time that day, but I&nbsp;found the perfect ring!







 







I had a a lot of trouble figuring out how to ask and when. Jennifer and I&nbsp;are so busy, based on our work schedules and my school schedule. Then you compound other responsibilities and it makes it hard and I&nbsp;wanted this to be a complete surprise. I finally settled on a Friday night, September 21, 2018. I spoke with my friend, John 'Goose'&nbsp;Kingston and told him I&nbsp;was considering a Winery and that I had made a reservation at Grand River Cellars. As with all things in life, everything happens for a reason and I know it was meant to be. Goose tells me his friend works there and she can arrange a tour of the wine barrels and I could propose down there. I thought this sounded like a fantastic idea. Goose got back to me and said, it'll be all set up for you, just tell the lady at the bar when you walk in that you are here&nbsp;for the wine tour and she will know what you mean. (little secret code stuff....I like it!)





 





Friday night September 21, 2018 is here! I'm so nervous, I&nbsp;have the ring and have had it now for almost 3 weeks, it's been so hard not to tell her, not to show her, not to ask her. We walk into the winery, Jennifer is so excited, because she had never been to a winery before and it was our date night. Little did she know what I&nbsp;had planned! We walk into the winery and I ask for the tour. They lead us downstairs to an area that had some tables and chairs and was lit by white lights draped over the wine casks and it was very beautiful.&nbsp;&nbsp;We were then lead into a room that has a big dinner table and a picture on the wall of wine barrels&nbsp;where&nbsp;they offer to take our picture. This was the code word for her to take the picture and leave us alone. My heart was pounding and the rest was up to me. The lady who took our picture then backed out of the room and closed the curtain. Jennifer not knowing what was going on starts walking away from me and out of the room. Haha, I had to grab her and call her back into the room. I held her close and told her I loved her. I think she knew at this point. I told her how I enjoyed being with her and I&nbsp;feel like I am wasting our time not asking her. I pulled the box out and got down on one knee. I asked Jennifer to marry me and she said yes!&nbsp; She started crying and her hands were shaking so much I had trouble putting the ring on her finger. I got up and she hugged me so tight!





 





As we walked upstairs, she started laughing because everyone asked her how it went and wanted to see her ring. Everyone knew what was going on. We finished the night with wine and dancing, we were both too excited to even eat dinner. This led immediately to the following night where we were able to have a bon fire and invite everyone over to celebrate our engagement. It was an amazing weekend!

The Proposal

Our Story

Details

AKA Nate DoggThe man, the myth, the legend!

Nate Pastor

Traci Kieffer

Tracy Schmidt

AKA Big Willy

Mini but Mighty....big things come in small packages!

Will Wardwell

Lisa Liotta

AKA Action Dan

Action Baby! All day, everyday!

Dan Costella

Elizabeth Cintron

AKA Goose

When he gets going look out! Cause the Goose is loose!

John Kingston

Vanessa Pastor

AKA Gremlin

Cause he is a mischievous little bugger!

Cam Knott

Wedding Party

Photos

Registry

Q + A

Jennifer and I have reserved a block of rooms at this hotel, mention our names to receive the discounted rate. To receive this group rate, rooms must be reserved no later than August 22, 2019 by 5:00pm.&nbsp;

Four Points by Sheraton Cleveland-Eastlake

Shuttle service will also be provided to the reception from 5:30pm-6:30pm and following the reception from 10:30pm-12:30am. &nbsp;If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to us personally. &nbsp;Hope to see you all there!