The Millbottom

Wedding Day

Ceremony

Reception

Our Wedding

Joe and Mackenzie met in an Engineering Materials class at Mizzou. Kenzie was the only girl in a class full of guys. They didn’t talk at first but later found out they had both noticed each other from the beginning. They officially met at I one of Joe’s frat formals, where they traded Snapchats and began a study buddy relationship—mainly consisting of Joe asking Kenzie if she had done the homework yet. The next semester, they ended up having two classes together. This is when they truly became friends. Joe says he knew Kenzie was special when they were stuck in a study room for over 8 hours trying to understand an Elements of Design paper due the following week. (Which, by the way, even though Kenzie basically walked him through it, Joe ended up getting a better grade—WTH.) That moment led to endless hours of studying together, hanging out in study rooms, and bonding over the shared torture that is engineering school. By Spring 2024, they kept finding themselves running into each other outside of class—at bars, at events—eventually going to the Engineering Bar Crawl together. It was during this time that they both started to realize there might be something more than just friendship between them, though neither was quite ready to face what that meant. These nights continued until Stop Day—an infamous day on MU’s East Campus where there are no classes before Finals Week. Joe asked Kenzie where she was, and they ended up spending much of the day together, eventually ending the night at a bar. As the night was coming to a close, their feelings began to surface. Kenzie looked at Joe and said, “You need to stop being so nice to me… or else I’m going to start liking you.” Joe made sure she got home safe, putting her in a car and heading home himself, both of them stewing in the realization that they might be ready to cross the line from friends to something more. After that day, they started finding more and more reasons to talk. Eventually, they both ended up in St. Louis for a weekend. One week later, Kenzie was back in Columbia, and Joe was asking her to be his girlfriend—despite what both of their mothers might have had to say. That summer was filled with road trips back and forth between STL and Columbia. Before they knew it, it was their last semester of college. Kenzie helped Joe move into his new apartment—which he barely lived in, because he and Percy basically took over Kenzie’s bedroom at her place. Class after class they worked together to pass each assignment getting them one step closer to graduating. But life wasnt all about school they went to football games and tailgated. This is where Joe met Kenzies Family and friends, and Kenzie met Joe’s. Both getting a better glimpse into each ones world and people who surrounded them. As their lives began to intertwine more and more, they fell deeper in love loving or living with each new part they experienced. Finally, graduation was in sight and life after college was coming closer into view. Thoughts of moving in and starting careers together felt natural and at their fingertips. So, thats what they did. Moving in and making their house into a home they knew in this life they were meant for each other.

Study Buddies to Soulmates 

Our Story

Photos

Madison White 

Chloe Simon

Dani Davis 

Lauren Larson

Gwyn DeFeo

Elie DeFeo 

Dawson Shulte 

Alex Loeffleman

Ben Clark 

Eric Wiseman 

Jacob Young 

Zach 

Jeni DeFeo

Taren White 

Wedding Party

Please RSVP no later than July 20th, 2026. If you do not RSVP in time, we will assume you are unable to attend. We will miss celebrating with you, but it is imperative that we provide our vendors with a final guest count within the time they have given us. You can RSVP through the RSVP tab on this website.

Q + A

Need help with your hotel booking?If you run into any issues while making your reservation, feel free to reach out—our hotel contact is happy to help! Michele Brauncy-jeffcity.dos@pmihotels.com573-761-1400 ext. 5003 She’ll take great care of you!

Courtyard Jefferson City

Travel

Things to Do

Registry

Mackenzie & Joseph

Mackenzie & Joseph

Registry