Airbnb

Ladies Night

Our House/Property

Rehearsal

Day Before Wedding - Hangout

The Lakes Event Venue

Wedding Day

Fall

Our Wedding

Maria and Matt met not long after Maria moved to Tennessee in June of 2018. At the time, she was living at an Airbnb owned by Maria’s now close friend and Matt’s best man, Tennessee Eric, while Maria was finding a place to live. Eric was helping Maria feel at home in TN and invited her to a party with his friends (and now her friends!), including Matt. Maria pretty vividly remembers walking in and seeing Matt prepping bacon wrapped jalapeno hot dogs for the grill. Of course! He’s the grill master! She was very impressed. At the time, Matt remembers Maria being quiet as a newbie to the group. Eric had the idea to ask Matt if Maria could live with him since Maria had a german shepherd, Ellie, that wasn’t allowed at any rental properties... Matt’s a sucker for dogs so he agreed :) If Ellie could talk, she’d likely tell everyone how thankful she is to have him as her Pappa. He truly is the best for her. Turns out M & M were a really great match as well and dang near immediately became best friends. And Matt quickly learned Maria isn’t so quiet but is very outgoing, funny, loud (she’s a Riddle), and willing to help with anything. On wedding day, it’ll be just over 6 years of sharing the best memories, working toward their dreams and learning how to support, love, and trust each other.  They are so ready for more and excited to celebrate with you at their wedding!!

Maria booked a photo shoot to take family photos. The original date for the shoot had to be rescheduled and Maria thought, "Why not do it on Ellie's 10th birthday instead"...only 2 weeks after the original date. Unbeknownst to Maria, Matt was planning to propose during the photo shoot and the ring was behind schedule. So the change in date worked out perfectly for them! On the day of, their photographer arrived having no idea Matt was going to propose and perfectly kept her nerves at bay. They went about the beginning of the shoot with the dogs and gave Ellie a cake and steak to celebrate. Halfway through, they headed to their favorite spot...a pile of logs they created after cutting down trees on the land they cleared to build their first home together! While Maria was explaining this to the photographer, Matt asked Maria if they should take Ellie's collar off for the photos. Maria was thinking, "yeah that makes sense" and quickly unclipped it and literally flung it out of the way. Again, unbeknownst to her, the collar had "Will you marry Pappa" written on it. Matt quickly walked over to get the collar and as he bent down to get it Maria, confused, noticed the writing. Matt walked it to her and Maria was in complete shock! She kept saying, "Matt Smith, what is happening, are you serious, I CAN'T!" Tears, blackouts, pure joy!! He tied in his running joke of "10 years", which he said any time someone asked about his proposal plans. Since it was Ellie's 10th birthday, he said "I think the 10 years is up, will you marry me?". It was perfect in every way. Our pictures captured all the emotions. Maria started planning the wedding the next morning at 5:30 am because she was too excited to sleep.

Our Engagement: 06/26/2023

Our Story

Photos

Lexi

Ellie

Eric Saliba

Suzanne is Maria's one and only seester :) 

Suzanne Koefoed

Matt and Blaine started off as competitors but soon realized they were better as teammates.

Blaine Kilburn

Hannah Beth and Maria met in TN, were roommates, and quickly became more like sisters.

Hannah Beth Smith

Micah and Matt go way back to high school!

Micah Hartsfield

Maria and Heather were "the most perfectly matched random roommates" their freshman year at Indiana University. Best friends ever since!

Heather Price

Wes and Matt have been friends since they started working together after high school.

Wes Wright

Lauren has been Maria's bestie since elementary school :D

Lauren Schneider

Wedding Party

Q + A

Wedding venue is:-90 minutes SOUTH of Nashville Airport (BNA)-10 minutes NORTH of our home in Leoma, TN

Matt & Maria

Matt & Maria

Wedding Party