Rehearsal Dinner

Our Wedding Day

St. Seraphim Orthodox Cathedral

The Rite of Holy Matrimony

Willow Creek Weddings and Events

Our Reception

Our Wedding

Registry

<a href="https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/laquinta/red-oak-texas/la-quinta-inn-and-suites-red-oak-tx-ih-35e/rooms-rates?brand_id=LQ&amp;checkInDate=12/27/2025&amp;checkOutDate=12/29/2025&amp;useWRPoints=false&amp;children=0&amp;groupCode=pot122725&amp;adults=1&amp;rooms=1&amp;loc=ChIJA04Y5UKRToYRXeFF8fEqIYo&amp;sessionId=1759781422" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Potthoff Wedding</a> We have a hotel block reserved at the La Quinta Inn &amp; Suites in Red Oak, located just under fifteen minutes from our venue, Willow Creek. Please book your room using the link above. If you plan to stay only one night, simply adjust your arrival and departure dates on the booking page—the link will still apply the discounted rate. Thank you, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you!

La Quinta Inn and Suites by Wyndham-Red Oak TX IH-35E

Accomodations

A Tale as Old as Time…Carter and I first met at the greatest university in the world—Texas A&amp;M (A-Whoop!). At the time, I was bartending at a place in College Station called O’Bannon’s and Carter was one of my regulars. I always thought he was sweet—and definitely easy on the eyes—so I would try to spark conversation about anything I possibly could, from the weather to beer recommendations. True to Carter’s polite and sweet nature, he would answer kindly, ignore my suggestions, and walk away. This became our little dance for nearly a year. Finally, one Oktoberfest, Carter started to chat back and forth with me—and dare I say even flirt a little (though still ever the gentleman). A few weeks later, while out with friends at O'Bannon's, I spotted him. I very randomly decided to be bold and I marched straight up to him and said, "so, I have an awkward question..." and proceeded to ask for his phone number, which he (this is important) very VERY happily gave me. We then went on our merry way back to our respective friend groups and called it a night. The next day, I texted him—no response. I tried again the following day—still nothing. At this point I was completely convinced he had given me the wrong number on purpose in order to politely reject me and I was about to give up. But then, he requested to follow me on Instagram. After a little more waiting, I finally messaged him there, and he immediately responded—with his actual number this time. From that moment on, the conversations flowed easily, he planned the cutest dates, was the sweetest gentleman and I knew I had picked a good one. I told my mom just that on the phone about a week later, when I called to inform her that I would make him my boyfriend. As you can probably tell, that worked out really well for me! :)

Our Meet-Cute

Thursday October 12th, 2023Mary's patience and persistence were, and still are, incredibly inspiring. Over the course of a year or more, she carefully and cleverly dropped many handkerchiefs, so to speak, all of which I was completely oblivious to. It wasn't until that fateful night when she asked for my phone number, effectively slapping me across the face with said handkerchief several times, that I finally received the message. Saturday October 14th, 2023Just two days after I had miserably fumbled my first real interaction with Mary (by accidentally giving her the wrong phone number), I marched into O'Bannon's by myself with a prayer that she would be working. Lucky for me, she was. I sat at a table near the bar for nearly an hour, carefully crafting what I was going to say to her in my head. As the bar began to quiet down, I took my chance to go and speak with her. According to my plan, I began the conversation with, "So I have an awkward question for you," mimicking Mary's words from our interaction two days prior - but when she leaned over, placing her elbows on the bar and held her chin in her hands, starring at me like she was watching a rom-com, my entire plan disintegrated. Then, though a brief exchange of what could only be described as incoherent babbling on my part, I eventually managed to convince her to go out with me the following Thursday. Thursday October 19th, 2023Before picking up Mary for our first date, I built the first bouquet I had ever made for a girl. I placed it inside a beer stein, and this is still the most exotic drink I have ever bought for her. I took her to a little place just outside of College Station where we could watch the sunset from an observation tower, and walk around the small lake built there. From the very beginning, our conversation flowed easily, and we spent hours getting to know each other, photo-bombing strangers, and enjoying the sunset. Before we knew it, the sunset had long passed, and the restaurant I had planned to take her to had closed. We quickly found another, and our wonderful night continued with mid-bite laughter as we tested each other's gullibility over the origins of certain dairy products. After dinner, neither of us was ready for the night to end, and so we spent the next hour or two driving around College Station during which I discovered Mary's impeccable taste in music. We ended up at the top of a parking garage just off University Drive, where we stood under the night sky while swapping some of our best family stories. Before we decided to call it a night, I asked Mary to our first dance - we rolled down the windows of my car and played a very special Tyler Childers song very loudly, bringing a near perfect end to a near perfect night.

Mary & Carter

Mary & Carter

FAQ

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