Trinity Lutheran Downtown

Wedding Day

Wedding

The Astorian

Reception

Our Wedding

I love sharing our story. It puts a big smile on my face every time I think about it. In the Fall of 2015 I began to realize I was ready to meet someone. I shared with a friend that I was ready to start dating, but I did not even know where to begin. She told me to give eharmony a try. I was skeptical about it at first, but a great promotion was going on. I thought to myself, “What the heck, I’ll give this a try,” and I created my profile. In my first month of being on the site Spencer sent me a private message full of questions to get to know me. I&nbsp;immediately went to his profile to scope him out. His profile made me feel excited at the prospect of getting to know him better. I loved how he shared about his faith in his profile and the love he has for his family. &nbsp;We messaged back and forth for a month to get a feel for one another. Through these messages I&nbsp;was beginning to see that he was thoughtful, considerate in his questions, and someone who excited me with his responses. I&nbsp;wanted to know him more. Luckily, he seemed to want to get to know me more too because at the end of our last message to each other on the site he asked if we could continue our conversations in person. I&nbsp;love the way he asked me to do this because it speaks of who he is. He is patient, kind, loving, and respectful. He told me he wanted to meet me and he left me his number. He told me to text him if I&nbsp;was ready to meet so that he could give me a call to properly set up a date, and if I&nbsp;was not ready there was no pressure he would be happy to continue messaging me. I, of course, texted him within minutes of receiving that message. He then set up a time to call me later to set up a date. He had the most special first date planned for the both of us. It is a night I&nbsp;will never forget. We still visit this place on our yearly anniversaries because of how special this night was for the both of us. He met me at Trinity Groves where he had a whole night of fun things planned. I&nbsp;got very nervous when I&nbsp;first met him and remember acting pretty goofy. I&nbsp;walked up to him and the first words out of my mouth were, "Are you a hugger?" He smiled real big and told me that he was, and then he gave me a hug. Right from the beginning he has made me feel at ease, able to be myself, and safe. After we first met we walked around the outside of this area. I noticed he kept looking down at his phone. He was hiding his phone off to the side like he did not want me to notice that he was looking at it. I&nbsp;asked him what he was looking at. He got very nervous and slightly embarrassed. He told me that he had never been to this area so he made an itinerary for the night so that it could be special. He then dismissed this crazy amount of thoughtfulness as nerdy. I&nbsp;could not believe how much planning and effort he put into our first date. I&nbsp;saw his thoughtfulness in this moment, and my heart began to warm even more towards him. He told me that he had planned out different places for appetizers, dinner, drinks, and live music. I smiled big knowing this meant he wanted to spend as much time with me as I&nbsp;wanted to spend with him. We went to a tapas place for appetizers where we sat at the bar talking for hours. We completely got lost in conversation and missed dinner. In those early conversations I&nbsp;was captivated by the way he views the world, faith, and God. He also came up with good ice breakers when the conversation would hit a lull that made me laugh and smile. We clicked right from the beginning, and I&nbsp;had a sneaking suspicion that he was somebody very special. I was very right. Neither one of us got back on eharmony after that night. It took very little time for me to recognize the man that my soul loves, and I&nbsp;am very thankful for my friend who suggested eharmony. That was the best investment for the priceless gift of Spencer in my life.&nbsp;

Her Story

I first saw Lauren on eharmony back in October of 2015. I&nbsp;remember in her picture she was wearing a blue blouse, had beautiful brown eyes, and a beautiful smile. In her pictures, I&nbsp;saw a love of friends and family, and could tell she had a really fun spirit. Then I&nbsp;read her profile and read about her passion for God, and for helping in the healing process for women who had gone through trauma in a biblical context. I thought that she was awesome and exactly the type of girl that I&nbsp;wanted to meet. I&nbsp;couldn't believe that she had been placed in my matches as not an exact match, but I&nbsp;was very happy that I&nbsp;saw her profile. While talking online, I&nbsp;learned about her time in Israel, about her family, and about what she was doing in Dallas. I&nbsp;learned pretty quickly when we were finally able to write messages back and forth, that she had a great sense of humor and got to know her sweet heart just a little bit. I&nbsp;knew I&nbsp;wanted to meet her! I&nbsp;sent her a message with my phone number saying that I&nbsp;wanted to meet her, but for her to let me know when she was comfortable to do that. I&nbsp;heard back from her via text message the next day saying she was wanting to meet me!&nbsp;We set up a time when I&nbsp;could call her and officially ask her out. I&nbsp;picked out a couple things that she and I&nbsp;could do and asked her out a couple days later! She chose going to Trinity Groves. We set up our first date to be November 14, 2015 - a date that has since become one of my favorite days of my life. The first time I&nbsp;saw Lauren, I&nbsp;remember her beautiful smile and eyes and her classy, feminine style. She was wearing a purplish maroon dress. She asked me if I&nbsp;was a hugger. At&nbsp;our first greeting, Lauren was exactly who she is. No put-ons, no games, just a sweet, a little shy, Lauren. That attracted me very much to her from then on. Lauren is who she is. That's one of the reasons I&nbsp;love her so much. Trinity Groves is a really fun place with a lot to do. I&nbsp;wanted to maximize our fun there, so I&nbsp;set up a loose itinerary of things to do. We went to the first restaurant for tapas and sat down at the bar. While this was planned to be the first of a few stops on our date, we ended up sitting there for a few hours just talking and enjoying each other. We barely touched the food that I&nbsp;had bought for us that night. At one point when we were there Lauren got up to go to the bathroom. When she did that, I&nbsp;texted my mom to tell her that Lauren was different than any other girl I&nbsp;had met and that I&nbsp;really liked her. As it turns out, Lauren had gotten up to tell her mom that she really liked me! After tapas, Lauren and I&nbsp;headed over to a brewery named Four Corners. On the way, she took my arm. Just constantly building my attraction for her. We sat at the bar and enjoyed talking about things we were afraid of and our favorite desserts and our favorite movies. At one point, we held each other's hands and she smiled at me. I&nbsp;didn't want to let go. We were so excited by each other that I&nbsp;knew I&nbsp;wanted to go on a second date with her. I thought of a second date idea while walking to a music hall in the area. We sat close and danced a little at our table. Already liking her and still holding her hand, I&nbsp;told her that I&nbsp;wanted to go on a second date with her. All in all we spent five hours together that first date. Five hours that brought the love of my life into my life.&nbsp;

His Story

On May 26, 2018 Spencer picked me up at 6:30 am to watch the sunrise at White Rock Lake, the place and time where he first told me he loved me. I&nbsp;woke up early and was excitedly waiting for him. I&nbsp;saw him pull up from my bedroom window. He got out of his car taking deep breaths and wearing my favorite white button down of his. He brought me to a quiet place on top of a hill at the lake, and we sat down on a bench overlooking the city skyline and the lake. Spencer got a very tender look in his eye, and he told me how much he loved me. He then asked if he could pray over us and our relationship. I, of course, said yes. My heart felt so full and excited as he wrapped me in his arms. He began to thank God for our relationship and the way that God has brought our paths together. I will never forget that in the middle of praying he got down on one knee to come before God to ask for His daughter's hand in marriage. Spencer then pulled out the ring, and he asked me to be his wife. With an overjoyed heart full of love I&nbsp;happily and repeatedly said, "YES!" I&nbsp;love that he is a man of faith who values us both having a relationship with God. It meant the world to me that he proposed in this way. It was such a special moment that could not have been better.&nbsp;He then continued to surpass any thoughts I&nbsp;might have of how he would propose by&nbsp;surprising&nbsp;me with a trip to Fredericksburg&nbsp;to celebrate our engagement in the most wonderful&nbsp;way. He had a private musician waiting for us when we arrived so that we could have a night of dancing to our favorite songs, and the next day he had our families surprise us at our favorite winery. I could not have imagined a more perfect way for Spencer to propose. He thought of everything. He&nbsp;made it sentimental, romantic and special. He is a man who fears God and loves me well, and I could not be more ready to marry him on May 3rd.&nbsp;

The Proposal

Our Story

Details

Photos

Leslie Tutino

Dylan Ewers

Peter Donaghue

Tara Struck

Jackie Struck

Cody Dufour

Casey Coleman

Cassidy Hayes

Jenna Harrison

Desmond Hayes 

Casey Kenley

Hannah Kerr

Hang Leung

Danielle Ochoa

Adam Mueller

Leslie Rodriguez

Lauren Savage

Jon Tutino

Wedding Party

Q + A

Registry

A block of hotel rooms have been reserved. To receive our special rate reserve your rooms by April 4, 2019. You can call the number above to reserve a room. If calling to make a reservation mention that you are with the Struck/Ranney wedding group.

Or reserve online <a href="http://www.fourseasons.com/houston/" target="_blank">here</a> . Once you open the page click on "Check Rates"&nbsp;and enter in our promo code:&nbsp;CI0419SR&nbsp;

Transportation will be provided for our hotel guests, at either hotel, to take you to our ceremony, reception and back.&nbsp;

Four Seasons Hotel Houston

Reserve online <a href="https://hotelalessandra.windsurfercrs.com/ibe/details.aspx?propertyid=15024&nights=1&checkin=05/02/2019&group=ILSASRWCB563" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;by April 4, 2019 to receive our special rate&nbsp;. If calling to make reservations mention that you are with the Struck/Ranney wedding group.

Lauren & Spencer

Lauren & Spencer

Registry