Sundance & the Secret Garden

Wedding Ceremony

Cocktail Hour

Reception

Parking

For the day of the ceremony, parking will be right across the street from the venue! And in case it's helpful, cars can remain parked in this lot until 10 AM the next day.

Our Wedding

After graduating from Wheaton College (IL) in 2020, Maddie moved back to her hometown of Holland, MI. She started seminary in the fall, and despite a couple rough break-ups that first year of grad school, she really wanted to date and meet new people. In 2020 and 2021, it was kind of difficult to do that. So she tried a strange, brave thing she never imagined she'd do... she downloaded a dating app. Joe moved to West Michigan in 2017 where he got a job after graduating from Miami University in Ohio. Throughout the next few years, he bounced around between Zeeland, Holland, Grand Rapids, and eventually, he landed in Lowell. Joe had been on and off dating apps, but he decided to download Hinge again in the fall of 2022 out of curiosity. One day, he got a message from a girl in Holland — she asked what his most recent top three favorite songs were. After a couple years of being on and off Hinge, Maddie came across a picture of a boy in a beanie, standing on the edge of a cliff. His profile mentioned something about music, science, books, and nature. She was curious. So she messaged Joe for the first time in December of 2022. They texted for a few days, talked on a video call, and then planned a time to go out for coffee. Their first date was at Lyon Street Cafe in Grand Rapids, MI. It was snowing outside that mid-December afternoon when they met. Joe's first impression of Maddie was that she was cute, interesting, and asked good questions. (He also thought she might be a little crazy because of her very raw, honest poetry blog that he found on her instagram LOL). Maddie's first impression of Joe in that moment was that he was very chill and kind of hard to read (he said later that he was trying to play it cool). After they ordered, they noticed there weren't any seats available, so they opted to sit in one of the wooden, heated huts on the sidewalk outside. They were just big enough for two people and had a mini wood stove fire inside to keep it warm. Because of the size of the space, they separately thought, "this will either go really well or be super awkward." Turns out, it wasn't awkward at all. Joe and Maddie spent the entire afternoon together from 2pm until it got dark out. They had coffee, walked by the Grand river, then stopped for drinks at Atwater Brewery. They talked about books, prayer, family, and travel. After almost two years of dating, Joe proposed to Maddie on an October afternoon hike in Northern Michigan. They spent the previous night camping, then had a cozy brunch in Traverse City that morning, and enjoyed a meandering drive on M-22 to see the fall colors. Maddie had no idea, but Joe was intentionally playing significant songs from their years of dating on the drive. With Joe's good friend Guillermo secretly trailing behind to capture the moment, Joe proposed to Maddie on a sand dune overlooking Lake Michigan. Obviously, there's so much more to the story! The journey to choosing marriage was not easy —&nbsp;it was emotional, beautiful, exciting, scary, and full of many, many prayers and conversations, both fun and challenging. Joe and Maddie are beyond grateful for the community who has supported them throughout the last couple years of their relationship.

The story of how we met

Our Story

Photos

Addy is Maddie's long-time hometown bff. Since 5th grade, growing up just five minutes down the road from one another, Maddie and Addy have been an inseparable pair. They have spent the majority of their friendship at the Holland State Park beach and Captain Sundae. 

Addy Gerig

Emma and Maddie sat next to each other in a Shakespeare class sophomore year at Wheaton College. They became fast friends, bonding over their love of art, beauty, and books. Emma and Maddie were roommates Junior and Senior year :) 

Emma Atchinson

Addie and Maddie were apartment-mates Senior year at Wheaton College. Their friendship grew and blossomed in the years that followed graduation, both making the three hour drive between them to spend time together a couple times a year (and sending many, many Marco Polo videos throughout the COVID days to stay in touch). 

Addie Gannon

Maddie and Annika lived on the same floor Freshman year at Wheaton, and Maddie had a big friend crush on her! For Maddie, Annika is like a "soul sister." Even though they only lived in the same city for about a year and a half, they became super close. Annika is an artist, a worship pastor, and a gardener. 

Annika Tilly

Liz and Maddie met when they volunteered to work in a hostel in Amsterdam for one summer during college. They lived in a large house with volunteers from all over the world. Over bikes rides across the dutch countryside and through the city, meals in parks, long train rides, and late-night conversations about life, they became really close friends. Liz works and lives in D.C. with her husband, Conrad. 

Liz Shillings

Maddie and Christy lived together in Michigan for three years during their grad school days! They love to send each other new songs, watch movies, cook together (usually Christy teaching Maddie how), go for drives to the beach, and talk for hours. Christy is a poet, a farmer, a florist, and a nanny in Michigan. 

Christy Escobar

Emili lived with Maddie and Christy in Holland during grad school. Emili and Maddie share a love of coffee shops, "alone together" evenings, Chicago, anything mushy and romantic, and plants. They both went to Wheaton, but they didn't meet until Emili moved to Michigan! Emili works for a non-profit in Chicago, and her apartment looks like perfectly curated art museum. 

Emili Shepperson

Anna is Maddie's little baby sister! Anna is a talented musician, incredible hockey player, and a lover of all things creative (and skin care, lol). Maddie and Anna love to pick flowers, snuggle, watch movies, and play music together. 

Anna Vonk

Brittney and Maddie met sitting next to each other in orchestra in 8th grade. Each year, they rehearsed and performed a duet at the Solo and Ensemble Festival together — Brittney on viola and Maddie on cello. One of their fav annual traditions is to get takeout from Baja and sit at Centennial park in Holland to talk and people-watch during tulip time. Brittney is a social worker, cat-owner, amazing listener, and Shipshewana fanatic. 

Brittney Wagenveld

Sam has been Joe's best friend since the cub soccer years, where they bonded over physical pain, sport, and a thirst for adventure. Since high school they have been living their best lives mostly apart physically, but the bromance remains strong through yearly visits, snail mail, and long phone call catch-ups

Sam Goad

Ty is the day #1 homie. We joke that we fist bumped coming out of the womb. Ty and Joe have known each other at least for 79 years. Ty has encouraged Joe to make music and be a sensitive boi.

Ty Bernhardt

Fred is just a silly billy at heart, like Joe. Fred and Joe have bonded over being cosmic cowboys, surviving startup life, and doing simple activities together like cooking, having a porch smoke, and impromptu therapy sessions.

Frederick Bruner

Eric captivated Joe with his confidently goofy nature and love for rock n roll, baby. They first met at a Christian retreat called Chrysalis in Evansville, IN. They bonded over serving together on the agape team. Eric has come visit Joe in his city of Grand Rapids a few times and is a member of the infamous Music Men trio.

Eric Hormuth

Alex and Joe first met at Chrysalis and served on the agape team. They have bonded over several mission trips and visits to Columbus, OH. Alex welcomed Joe into the Olivet church small group, where many shenanigans that cannot be talked about began. Joe has fond memories of going to Alex's house in the summer and running the streets of Evansville. He is a member of the Music Men trio.

Alex Fehr

Dan and Joe became friends freshman year of college at an outdoor orientation group called Miami Bound. He is one of Joe's first college buds. They suffered through the mechanical engineering program together over many late nights full of laughs and math problems. Junior year, they travelled on a study abroad trip to India together. In adulthood, Dan and Joe have stayed in touch through long phone calls and an annual lake weekend with friends. 

Daniel Thompson

Chad and Joe met through their home church of Engedi GR. They got to know one another through post-church brunch hangs and on a service trip to Hamtramck. Chad and Joe occasionally nerd out together in addition to talking about life.

Chad Malinowski

Wedding Party

Q + A

Travel

West Michigan has the best beaches, and August is a perfect time to enjoy them. Our favorite beaches are Holland State Park, Tunnel Park (Holland), and Oval Beach (Saugatuck). However, Silver Beach, Jean Klock Beach, and Lions Beach are a couple great beaches to explore in Benton Harbor.

Go to the beach!

Joe &amp; I have never been here, but when we were visiting Sundance (our venue), we kept noticing local vineyards and wineries popping up along the drive. 12 Corners is one of the closest, but there are a variety of wineries to check out near the venue. Here are a few others we've seen: Vineyard 2121, Lake Michigan Vintners, and Moonrise Winery.

12 Corners Vineyards

Check out the coffee shop where Maddie was a barista for a year after grad school! It's a 35 min drive away from Benton Harbor but so worth it :) enjoy an iced latte on a swing set or a hammock and browse all the outdoorsy merch from a local GR artist.

Outside Coffee Co

Joe and I have a tradition of stopping at Infusco Coffee on our drives to Joe's hometown, Evansville, IN.

Infusco Coffee - The Market

Things to Do

Registry

After the wedding, Joe and Maddie will spend a few nights by the beach on a local mini-moon. Afterwards, Maddie and Joe will live together in Lowell, Michigan, in the home that Joe has owned and lived in for a couple of years. It's a sweet little house on a corner street, just a five-minute walk from downtown Lowell and the Flat River. Joe has been tending a couple of garden plots in their yard, so they'll likely return to many fresh tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers. They will also return to many unpacked boxes! Maddie has been slowly moving stuff in throughout the summer, so there won't be any moving left to do, but there will be a lot of decorating and organizing! They are excited to start hanging up pictures and unboxing their wedding gifts (Thank you!!). Joe will continue to work at Madcap Coffee, and Maddie at The Colossian Forum in Grand Rapids.

Madelyn & Joseph

Madelyn & Joseph

Registry