Grace United Methodist Church

Wedding Day

Wedding

The Blue Heron

Reception

Our Wedding

While some couples have beautiful, romantic, or dramatic stories about how they met, Allen and I do not. In fact, I can't even remember the first time we met. In college at Creighton University in Omaha, NE we both got involved with the school's chapter of the Navigators, a Christian group on campus. Allen's a year younger than me, so while he was new as a freshman I was off doing great things as a sophomore. While I'm sure we met for the first time during that year at some weekly Navs meeting, I honestly don't remember it.&nbsp;

Fast forward to the next year when Allen and I were both regular attendees at Navs and through meetings and social events we gradually became friends, with me joining the bromance that already existed between Allen and his best man Vaughn. We constantly played each other in Trivia Crack on our phones, trying to prove who was smarter, and we developed an attraction to who the other was as a person, friend, and Christian. We spent a winter break apart where how much we missed each other was evident, and quickly came back in January for a first date, then a second, then becoming an official couple. Allen had to make it 'facebook official' about 5 seconds after it happened because he was so excited. And that's that. No crazy 'love-at-first-sight' story, but a simple story of two people who&nbsp;found common interests, became friends,&nbsp;and valued each other.&nbsp;

We'd go on dating for 1.5 years at Creighton, then I graduated and returned home to South Bend for medical school and 1 tough year of long distance. Finally in May Allen graduated and began a job search in Indy. Within one week at the end of June he proposed, got a job offer, and found a place to live in Indy. Now we have a few months of a little less long-distance, wedding planning, school, and work. After the wedding I'll move to Indy for the 3rd and 4th years of school where Allen and I will get to start our life together--with my adorable cat, Kit Kat, too :)

Our Journey -- from Lauren's perspective

There seems to be an ever-increasing number of ways to meet potential partners today; Tinder, Bumble, Match.com, eHarmony, Hinge...the list goes on and on. But Lauren and I did it the old-fashioned way: we met in person, in real-life, in college at Creighton University. Freshman year at Creighton I was looking for a Christian community to be a part of, as my junior high and high school youth ministry at my church was very impactful and important to me. Thanks to a well-placed flyer in a stall in my residence hall restroom I found the Navigators.

I started attending throughout freshman year and, although I knew of some of the upperclassmen involved in the group, I didn’t really go out of my way to interact with them. Fast forward to sophomore year and as I became more involved with Navs, I took notice of a cute junior girl named Lauren. She was pretty, smart, and talented.&nbsp;As I spent more and more time with her, I realized that I really wanted to date this girl and so, after leaving for Christmas break very certain of&nbsp;mutual feelings for each other, I eagerly anticipated our return to Omaha for the start of second semester. So eager was I that I returned to Omaha earlier than I otherwise would have, just so I could pick her up from the airport and spend some time together before classes resumed.&nbsp;The rest is pretty simple really; after a couple of dates I asked her to be my girlfriend, excited to be in a relationship with such an awesome girl. As we grew in our relationship we became more and more important pieces of each other’s lives; going to church together every Sunday, meeting our parents, going on dates, studying together, family weddings, and even witnessing a total&nbsp;solar eclipse.&nbsp;

I’m so excited to get married to Lauren and have such a caring, beautiful, and talented young woman as my wife. We look forward to starting our marriage together in Indy and seeing where the final leg of Lauren’s journey to becoming a physician, residency, takes us in a few years!

Our Journey -- from Allen's perspective

Our Story

Details

Some could say she was born for this. Lauren's&nbsp;twin sister, who has known her longer than just about anyone, from way back to the womb.&nbsp;

Ashley Strzelecki

Was it fate that put Vaughn across the hall from Allen their freshman year of college or just dumb luck?&nbsp;Either way, he'll argue he&nbsp;got&nbsp;Allen and Lauren together in the first place.&nbsp;

Vaughn Mueller

Another groomsman from the same floor of their&nbsp;freshman year college&nbsp;dorm, Nighteagle or "Nighty" is Allen's (and now&nbsp;Lauren's) favorite Native American.&nbsp;

Nighteagle Taylor

She was suppose to be the youngest child, then surprise! Twin sisters, who she had to&nbsp;put up with for years but also&nbsp;ended up give a lot of&nbsp;wisdom and advise to.&nbsp;

Melissa Nguyen

Without any siblings, Zach was like a brother to Allen growing up. They've been on so many adventures together so it's only natural he joins Allen on his greatest adventure yet.&nbsp;

Zach Wright

A Navigators staffer, friend, and role model, Brandon roped Allen into being a Navs regular and has thus seen Allen and Lauren's relationship from the very beginning.

Brandon Yohn

Lauren's next-door-neighbor&nbsp;freshman year of college. Those university housing offices really do know how to put future friends right next to each other.&nbsp;

Kara Wolters

Allen's always wanted a sibling and soon he'll have the next best thing:&nbsp;a brother-in-law!

Keith Strzelecki

From middle school cross country to high school marching band and everything in between, having a friend like Claire around always made school a lot better.&nbsp;

Claire Rice

The unofficial "triplet" to Lauren and Ashley, they were once jokingly threatened to be fired from their lifeguarding jobs because they got along so well together at work.&nbsp;

Deanna Stangas

Wedding Party

Photos

Registry

Q + A

This link is ready made for our wedding. On the website, click "Book Now" and enter the dates. Good for checking in March 27th and 28th.By clicking on the link below, the IATA# and Group code should automatically be entered for you. If they are not you can manually type them in.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites South Bend - Notre Dame Univ.

This hotel offers a shuttle and is willing to take a few trips to and from the hotel to the reception venue. Good for checking in on March 27th or March 28th.Price only guaranteed if booked before February 27th.

Lauren & Allen

Lauren & Allen

L&A

Wedding Day

3:30 PM

Wedding

Reception