Ev and Kenz met in early Spring of 2022. Kenz had just moved from a small Montcalm Co. town (Sheridan) to the Grand Rapids area to pursue a job opportunity and new chapter where she would live with her brother, Ethan.

One weekend in early 2022, Kenz was visiting 2 gal pals in Mt. Pleasant, visited her mom & dad and drove back to Grand Rapids late one evening after the day back home. She put a song by Cody Johnson on her private story called, “God Bless the Boy” (just because). Meanwhile, Evan was watching college basketball (shocker) and encouraged by some buddies to connect with this girl he had followed a few days prior on Instagram.

He sent Kenzie a message on instagram that she opened late this night. His initial DM read: “Hey, can I get your number or snap?”.

Her reply: “number or snap? Deal breaker question.”

His reply: “Number, I already know you’re cute.”

The two exhcnaged a few texts via phone number that night. A conversation that somehow quickly lead to their shared love for Cody Johnson’s song “God Bless the Boy”... coincidence…?

The next morning, Evan ~double texted~ Kenzie to initiate a second day of replies & conversation. The two continued to connect over shared interests, including the Green Bay Packers, music, hobbies and many mutual friend connections. These connections happened to correlate with 2022 weddings in which Evan and Kenz were in or apart of, collectively. Evan proposed the idea of being designated wedding dates and Kenz was not immediately in agreement, however did agree to meet Ev and Maverick (Mav) for a walk at a midpoint location, on the Fred Meijer Trail.

It was this night that they later discovered they both called and told their moms, “this might be the one”. They walked and talked for hours on the trail, it was beyond dark when they finally said goodnight. From those initial sparks, there was nothing that did not scream “that’s the one” for these two in everyday moving forward.

They attended the handful of weddings as a couple the spring and summer of 2022. They engaged in their fair share of the “if he wanted to, he would” commutes to GR for weekly date nights. They went for sunset drives and adventures with Mav anytime she asked. They made it “official” and met each other's family and friends. That summer they embraced long distance (and Kenz being in grad school / working full-time + Evan working night shift) but still met on weekends and went on summer kayak trips, had boat days, took a U.P. trip, spent plenty of time on the golf course and even managed a rollercoaster day on zero sleep (for Evan). In the fall, they watched a lot of their Green Bay Packers, had bonfires with friends, made trips to Houghton Lake when they could & continued bringing Mav everywhere possible.

Their life into 2023 continued to look similar. They made plans to take meaningful trips during the time they had together. Including a few “bucket list” country music concerts. They continued loving being an aunt and uncle to their niece (flower girl 1) and nephew (ring security), as well as welcoming their bonus niece (flower girl 2). Kenz continued finishing OT school and Evan got promoted to a day-shift position. They continued to do their hobbies, both together and separate and made the sacrifice to connect as often as possible.

In October of 2023, Evan planned a trip to Green Bay, specifically Lambeau Field for the two of them. This trip was Kenzie’s first time. As part of the trip Evan had planned, he scheduled a stadium tour, in which some family and friends joined them. The last part of the tour took them out of the Green Bay tunnel – at the end of the tunnel, Evan got down on one knee and asked Kenzie to marry him and Kenz undoubtedly said yes, after turning to her left to spot (to her surprise) a handful of their favorite people. They proceeded to attend the Green Bay game the next day before making a long drive home, spent talking about their dream day.

K&E

the barton wedding

3:00 PM

3:00 PM

Ceremony

4:00 PM

4:00 PM

Cocktail Hour

5:30 PM

5:30 PM

Entrances

6:00 PM

6:00 PM

Dinner

7:00 PM

7:00 PM

DANCING