Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church

Wedding Day

Wedding

Rogalski Center, St. Ambrose University

Reception

Our Wedding

Scottie was living with Kyle and Ferek in the Big City and KK was good friends with Kyle. She always heard about "Paulson" at her days at St. Ambrose and he always heard of Kelly Kratt as well, but their paths never crossed, even though there are pictures of them at each others house parties. They had lots of mutual friends since Scottie played volleyball and KK played softball at SAU. Tara Miller, one of KK's best friends, has had a framed picture from the winter of 2009 of the two of them and one day when Tara was cleaning (if you know Tara, you wouldn't be surprised by this) she saw that in the background of the picture was Scottie. By this time the Kraulson's were already a couple and found this framed picture very ironic. It's truly fate of why theirs paths did not cross until they did. KK went to hang out with Kyle one night and finally got to meet the mysterious "Paulson" and the rest is history. If you look at the picture above of Tara and KK, you can see Scottie in the top right corner. This is from college in 2009. Crazy.The picture below is from the summer before they started dating when their mutual groups of friends met up. They were not dating at this time but look at that chemistry!

KK & Scottie

Just Friends

Our Story

Details

  I grew up in a relatively small family of 6 which included my Mom and Dad, sister, and 2 Grandparents. My Mom, who is an only child, spent her childhood on road trips out to upstate New York visiting my Grandfather's first cousin. This quickly became a yearly tradition which has continued through multiple generations. GJ and I are 2 months a part while Colin is 3 and half years younger but the bond between the three of us is brother-like.We have spent the better half of our lives together and have been influences to each other throughout the years. I would not be who I am today if these fellas were not in my life.We continue to meet in Chicago and New York City regularly, sometimes getting the opportunity to meet elsewhere which will continue on for years to come!

GJ Gerner and Colin Gerner

Michelle is my oldest sister and has those typical oldest sibling qualities of being protective of her baby sister. She always wanted me to end up with the perfect man and little did I know that she was working behind the scenes with Scottie to plan the London proposal. Michelle has a very successful career in the same industry that I'm in and I always look up to her and call her for advice. Michelle has also spoiled me very much growing up, which is probably why I have the typical youngest sibiling qualities. 

Michelle Sorg

Will is married to my sister Kelsey in which they met his senior year at St. Ambrose.I had met Will through a housemate in college, prior to him and Kelsey, and boy was he a different man!Will is an outstanding guy who means the world to not only Kelsey but my family.We share the love for sports, beer, and family which is more than you can ask for. Come February, a new addition will be added to their family, which I am overjoyed about being an Uncle and seeing their family grow!

Will Fuentes

Krissy is my second oldest sister who lives in the Chicago suburbs and is a teacher. She always wanted to be a teacher and it is very clear because she is amazing with kids. When I was a baby, Krissy would wake up extra early before school to wake me up and get me ready before she headed out for school. I don't know any 9 year olds that would do that today, so that's some authentic love. Krissy has a love for running marathons which I do not share, but we do have a mutual love for the Cubbies. When I first decided to move to Chicago, I had to move at the last minute to the city and lived with Kristin and her new husband Dave for a couple of weeks, and she helped me find my way in the Windy City. 

Kristin Petersen

Julie is married to my brother Jason and they have my two adorable nieces Harper and Kennedy. Julie also shares the St. Ambrose love as she attended school there too  and we've had some fun times indulging in adult beverages.She has a love for shopping and I get to enjoy the benefits  from all her hammy down clothes, which usually are still brand new, so it's a good thing Julie has great taste! 

Julie Kratt

Chris and I went to St. Ambrose together and had played volleyball together for the 2 years I was there.Although Chris and I were not extremely close in college, our relationship grew when we became roommates in Chicago.Chris is a native Chicagoan, growing up on the South Side, but divided the house being a Cubs fan.Despite our differences, we shared a love for Chicago sports and made it a tradition to party like rock stars for when the Blackhawks and Cubs won their National Championships.Chris is one of the nicest, most down to earth, comical guys I know and would do anything for his friends.It's an honor to have him stand up in our wedding.

Chris Ferek

Kyle also went to St. Ambrose and was probably the most well known person on campus. Although I don't remember the first time we met, our paths crossed many times after graduation.Being friends with Will and Chris, I spent a lot of time with the three of them, and eventually Chris, Kyle and I decided to be roommates in Chicago.For two years, we had the time of our lives with our Chicago crew until Kyle made a lifelong decision of joining the Peace Corp.Although he was sent to Paraguay, it didn't stop us to go and visit him.In early 2016, Chris and his girlfriend Emily (E) and Kelly and I flew down to Rio De Janiero to visit Kyle for a week long expedition.That was one of the best trips I had taken in my life and it was all due to the people I was with!

Kyle Miller

Kelsey is Scottie's one and only sister/sibling. They have a very close bond so when meeting her for the first time, I knew it was very important. Kelsey and I have a lot of the same interests in clothes and the love of wine, so we get along great. I'm so happy that Scott has a fun sister that is also a close friend. 

Kelsey Fuentes

Tristan is my oldest friend...We grew up together playing basketball and softball together, but mostly complained about basketball. We do some of the weirdest things together and would try to kill time in between school and practices by having our version of fun, which was going to the K-Mart down the street and taking pictures with random objects we found in the store. This was back in the day where we had to pay for a disposable camera and pay to develop our pictures. Tristan is also my most clumsy friend, so if anyone is going to fall walking down the isle or rip a dress, it's her. Knock on wood!

Tristan Snelling

 Jason is Kelly's older Brother and was the last person in her family I had the privilege to meet. Like the majority of the Groomsman, Jason also went to Ambrose and had played football.I had heard many daunting "meet and greet" stories with Jason and the other Brother in Laws and was lucky to have an enjoyable experience.Jason has been a very influential person to Kelly and me, not only being a great father and husband but an outstanding citizen, protecting the people of East Moline.We will definitely be leaning on him for our future endeavors as home owners and parents.

Jason Kratt

Tara and I have been friends since junior high through playing sports together like basketball, tennis, and softball and it continued at St. Ambrose where we were roommates and were on the softball team there as well. We always know how to make something a good time like when we would take car trips to visit friends in college and make up on our raps during the car ride and then perform them we got there. Or when we decided to sign up for an acting class in college when we clearly didn't belong there, but performed our monologues on stage thinking Hollywood wasn't too far away. We always laugh when we're together and manage to somehow always end up with glowsticks at the end of the night too. 

Tara Miller

Wedding Party

Photos

Q + A

Registry

Rooms should be $129 a night. There will be a shuttle that will pick you up from the hotel and take you to the reception, as well as take you back to the hotel afterwards. There is also a restaurant/bar downstairs of the hotel, Jbar, where we are planning on continuing to celebrate late night.Let us know if you have any issues!The link to our wedding block is below but if you call just ask for the Kratt/Paulson wedding block.

Kelly & Scottie

Kelly & Scottie

Travel

Holiday Inn & Suites