Rehearsal Dinner

Wedding Celebration

Holy Family Catholic Church

Wedding Mass

Lapeer Country Club

Reception

Our Wedding

When I took a travel nurse job and moved down to Gallup, New Mexico, all I was looking for was a hiking buddy. I swear. But you know how you have all these great plans for your future, and what ends up happening looks like the total opposite of your plans but is ultimately better than you could ever have hoped for?My hopes and dreams two years ago when I left home and started travel nursing were minimal....survive as a covid nurse, try not to be too homesick in a strange place, make friends in the Catholic community, and enjoy exploring a new area before moving on to the next place.Well, apparently God (and St. Joseph, come to find out) had other plans.In an attempt to alleviate my loneliness and get connected with some young people my own age, I reached out to the parish priest in Gallup and he connected me with a gal who he said hosted a women's group. He no sooner gave my number to her than I got a text inviting me to the next group, which was that night! I decided to go and I met a lot of awesome ladies who were friendly and welcoming to a stranger from a strange green land with moss and trees and waterfalls. I immediately connected with one of the ladies, Liz, because she was German and could speak far better than I could. We exchanged a few words and bantered back and forth, then she got down to business. "So," she said, sipping her screwdriver with a roguish twinkle in her eye, "...are you single?"I almost inhaled my cheese and crackers."Uh, yes," I squeaked, not sure what to make of this brazen approach."...are you looking?" she queried.This was a tougher one. I turned almost the shade of my merlot prior to sputtering out, "Well....no. I mean, not really looking for someone but I am okay if it happens. I could really use a hiking buddy, though," I derailed quickly. "So if you know someone who is familiar with the trails, I could use a hiking buddy".She nodded slowly and thoughtfully, never breaking eye contact with me as she took another sip."Right. Imma introduce you to Liam," she said with a mischievous grin."Who's Liam?" She declined to answer, just grinned a Cheshire grin and changed the subject, leaving me flustered yet with my curiosity piqued. The next day, Liz invited us both to Sunday brunch after Mass. I showed up with orange juice for the mimosas, as requested, and one of the first people I bumped into turned out to be Liam. He was dressed in a very dapper blue collared shirt, but what caught my eye was the very sensible and awesome work boots he was wearing that I lovingly refer to as 'Clodhoppers'. Having grown up on a farm in Colorado, I immediately approved of his footwear and thought he must be a very practical and outdoorsy type of guy. Later on in the brunch, I exchanged numbers with him and another gal, and said if he was interested in showing me a hiking trail in Gallup sometime, I would be down. Liam seemed to make it his responsibility to get me connected with the social life in Gallup, which I had mentioned I was looking for. He would host group events, such as a backyard bonfire, and invite me to them. That was how I met almost all of my Gallup friends, in fact! So we had minimal one-on-one interaction but ever since Liz had mentioned trying to set me up with him, I had actually done what I had not wanted to do.... notice that there was something special about this man. He was serious about his faith and relationship with God, strived to pursue Christian virtue and authentic masculinity, was funny and charismatic (maybe I am biased, but I always felt his presence stood out in a room), cheerful and there for his friends and family when they needed him. I observed from a distance, maintaining my well-practiced "conceal, don't feel" approach. I was getting nothing but friend vibes from him so I definitely didn't want to let him know that he had caught my attention.Then came the day when he invited me to see the town and get dinner at the local Mexican restaurant Jerry's. This was the first one-on-one event that he had initiated, but it didn't sound like a date to me, still him just being hospitable and showing a new person around his beloved hometown. But just in case, I took extra care with choosing my outfit that evening (purposely one of my nicer casual tops, to cater to the ruse that I wasn't trying to do anything special). So we walked around the town and it was definitely NOT a date. We talked about this and that and made trivial conversation and he gave me the nickel tour of Gallup, USA. Okay. Not a date. That was fine, I told myself. Just fine.Then he suggested two options for dinner, one of which was to take our food and eat it in a place we could watch the sunset.Wait. Was this a date after all? That had romantic connotations....but when we got our food, he continued the tour and was all business. I followed his directions and we ended up in one of the best places in Gallup to watch the sunset: the west end cemetery. So we sat on the highest point of the cemetery and ate stuffed sopapillas and talked about theology and everything in between. I think it was then that I definitively knew I liked him. But did I tell him? No.We were "not dating" and pretending we didn't for each other for quite some time until we finally made it official on February 4, 2021 and started dating.

Her side

Our Story

Photos

Jehannah Sollmann

Allison Pekron

Erin Henninger

Kati Herreid

Juliana Gagliardi

Max Augros

John McCarthy

John Farrell

Brendan Davidson

Ben Macik

Wedding Party

Q + A

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

We have reserved a block of 15 rooms (8 with 2 queen beds, 7 with 1 king bed) at a reduced rate if booked prior to November 30th. To get this rate, you can call the number above and reference the "McCarthy wedding" . Alternatively, you can book through this link: <a href="https://www.choicehotels.com/reservations/groups/xs87t5?checkInDate=2022-12-28&amp;checkOutDate=2023-01-01&amp;ratePlanCode=BWYVQH" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rates &amp; Available Rooms - Comfort Inn &amp; Suites (choicehotels.com)</a>

Comfort Inn & Suites

We don't have a contract with this hotel but the rate is about the same as the one we do and is closer to the reception.

Lea & Liam

Lea & Liam

Wedding Party