Tamarack Golf Club

Wedding Day

Our Wedding

Our Engagement

(Written By Kyle) Molly and I moved to Nashville together in May of 2019 after almost 5 years of dating. Things could have not gone more smooth and we grew to love Nashville. I knew very quick Molly was the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and I knew what the next step was going to be. At a certain point I would see Molly at night searching up wedding rings on Pinterest. It was a big step when we first moved, we not only moved in together for the first time but we moved to a completely new state and city away from most of our family. I was nervous but excited to start this chapter because it ended up strengthening&nbsp;our relationship, and confirming to me that Molly was who I was meant to spend the rest of my life with. That summer we moved we had went to a couple of weddings, and I remember telling my sisters that I wanted to propose to Molly. I kept envisioning us getting married and how excited I would be for that moment. Molly’s mom, Julia, came down to Nashville that following summer for a visit, and it just so happened to be the weekend Molly and I talked about going to try on ring styles. That day, Molly fell in love with her dream ring. I ended up ordering it a few days later and it wasn’t expected to be ready for another 3-4 weeks. This gave me enough time to plan the perfect engagement! I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do. Then one day, Molly told me how she won a free photo shoot from a beginner photographer that was looking to build her portfolio. It happened to be the same weekend the ring was supposed to be ready. I knew this would be the perfect opportunity. One night when Molly was in the shower, I went through her phone to find the photographers contact info. I secretly messaged her and got her on board to help me surprise molly during the photoshoot. The day before the photoshop I picked up the ring and I remember how nervous I was picking it up. The whole time I did not know if the ring was going to be ready or not, and just praying it would all work out. I did not have a Plan B and was putting all my faith in it being ready. I remember seeing it for the first time and that’s when it really hit me, I was not that nervous but more excited to start this next chapter in our lives. The next day came and I don’t think I got much sleep the night before. We drove to the pedestrian bridge where the photo shoot&nbsp;was taking place. At the end of the photoshoot I had the photographer tell molly to look away from the camera over bridge into the water for a solo shot. While she did that I got behind her and got down on one knee with the ring waiting for her to turn around. After a handful of seconds went by I don’t think molly was ever going to turn around so I whispered “Molly” and she turned around and her face said a thousand words. I could tell how shocked and surprised she was. She was so shocked she didn't even answer at first. After she said "yes" it felt like a weight was lifted off my chest. I am not even sure what I said before that; my heart was racing a thousand beats a second. I had her close group of friends, my mom, and sister hiding very near by and they ran out with signs and flowers to congratulate us. It was such a special moment that I will remember and cherish forever. Every time we go downtown and I see the bridge I get chills and it brings back such good memories that I will cherish forever.

The Proposal

(Written By Molly) In 2013, Kyle and I met in college at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. I was a freshman and Kyle was a sophomore. We had mutual friends in college, and had met a few times at parties and around campus. In 2014, My sophomore year came around. One night, my roommate and I were trying to get people to come out with us. Going through my contacts, I randomly reached out to Kyle in my phone book. Kyle's roommate and best friend, Ruben, reached out to me that night telling me Kyle was interested in getting to know me. Kyle and I then started talking and hanging out more, and he asked me to be his girlfriend. The night he originally asked me to be his girlfriend we were watching a movie, and I pretended I didn't hear him because I was so nervous (lol). He re-asked me a few days later, and we have been together ever since. Kyle graduated a little over a year before I did. He then moved back to Chicago making us long distance. I moved back to Chicago a year and a half later, and we discussed what our next plans were now that we were both back in our hometowns of Chicagoland. Kyle asked me to move in together when his lease was up, and of course I was thrilled to. Next step was finding out where we wanted to live. We researched places around the areas of both our families, but we didn't find an area around both our families that we would love to live. We then discussed possibly moving out of state. Kyle mentioned California, but we both knew that was unrealistic prices and distance from family for us. I mentioned Nashville, TN as I love country music and had just visited there recently. I never in a million years thought Kyle would agree to it. When I mentioned Nashville to him, Kyle was all for it and said he could see himself living there. We both wanted to be out of state, but still not too far from Illinois and our families so this was the perfect distance. We then made the decision; we were moving to Nashville! We went down to look at places to rent and moved a few months later. We got an apartment just outside of downtown Nashville that we loved and lived there 2 years. I never in my wildest dreams would think we would have moved out of state and be living in Nashville away from our families. A few months after moving to Nashville we went to “look” at dogs. We ended up falling in love with a skittish yellow lab named "Yiye." He was the dog at the shelter that everyone passed by, because he was afraid of everything. We knew that we wanted to give him the best home, so we adopted "Yiye." He then became our sweet "Buddy" Boy. He has gained so much confidence over the last 2 year of having him, and we couldn’t imagine our lives without him. Then, A little over a year into living in Nashville; Kyle proposed on the Nashville Pedestrian bridge. It was the most perfect day! (Read our Proposal :) ) We then decided a few months later we wanted to buy a house, and put down roots in Nashville. We decided on a new built community and built our first house together! It was such a fun process. Watching it build from the ground up is something I never thought we'd get to do, especially with our first home! We moved into our new house in April 2021, and have been loving working on house projects together. The past 7 years together has been filled with adventures, love, &amp; excitement. We can’t wait for what the future holds, and have loved every minute of this life we created together. July 3rd can't come soon enough!

Our Love Story

Our first picture together when we first started dating in 2014.

Q  & A

Guest Accommodations 

Country Inn & Suites by Radisson Romeoville, IL

1265 Lakeview Dr, Romeoville, IL, 60446

Use Code: 0722THOECT OR Group Name: Thomas - Ecton Wedding

Please call the hotel to reserve your room using our code for our room block and discounted rates! 630-378-1052 You can book your room for July 2nd, 3rd, and/or 4th for the discounted rate and room block.

You can also book yourself using the link below for our wedding block. https://www.radissonhotelsamericas.com/en-us/booking/room-display?checkInDate=2022-07-03&checkOutDate=2022-07-04&adults%5B%5D=1&children%5B%5D=0&searchType=pac&promotionCode=thomas&brandFirst=cis&hotelCode=ILROMEO

Please book in advance for your room as it is a holiday weekend and we don’t want the rooms to fill up before our guests can all reserve. You must book by June 18th to get your room at a discounted rate and part of the room block.   The hotel is a 12 minute ride (6 Miles) from the Venue.

Both Major airports (O'hare &amp; Midway) are about a 30 minute drive to the hotel.

Registry

The Girls 

Miranda Danner

Nicole Smith

Jenna Beykirch 

Laura Ridgeway

Ashley Beth

Karli Dixon

Alexandra Ecton

Tahira Kazmi & Bailey Hopkins

The Boys

Ruben Oliveras

Ashley Thomas

Austin Dixon

Dan Akins

Bo Bourlard

Mohammad Azib

The Kids

Jack Conner 

Lincoln Conner

Buddy Ecton

Wedding Party

Summer Engagement Photos

Fall Engagement Photos

Naperville, IL (Near Hotel)

1. Naperville River Walk - The Riverview walk is picturesque with interesting bridges, artwork, and flowers interspersed throughout. There are many places you can sit and contemplate, if you have the time. The walk is a refreshing break after eating/shopping in the adjacent downtown area.

2. Shopping in Downtown Naperville - Shop at the local boutiques and grab a bite to eat in the cute downtown area.

3. Naperville Kayak - Get your bathing suit and enjoy a relaxing ride down the river.

4. Hollywood Palms Cinema - See a flick at the most unique movie theater.

5. Dupage Children’s Museum - Tons of activities to keep your children entertained for the day

Downtown Chicago

**Downtown Chicago is about 45 minutes from our venue and Hotel**

You can take an Uber/Lyft or the Metra Train Downtown. Link to the train schedule (BNSF) ﻿https://ridertools.metrarail.com/maps-schedules/train-lines/BNSF

2. Millennium Park &amp; The Bean

5. Shopping on Michigan Ave/Water Tower

7. Oak Street Beach or North Avenue Beach

8. Wrigleyville (Home of the Chicago Cubs)

9. Museum of Science &amp; Industry

Things to Do

Bolingbrook Golf Club

2001 Rodeo Drive

We would love to spend the 4th of July with family and friends that are still in town the day after the wedding. We will be reserving a spot at Bolingbrook Golf Club with tables and chairs for us to hangout and watch the fireworks together. The event opens at noon, but you can come anytime. There will be food vendors, live music, various booths, family games, &amp; more for anyone to take part in. Fireworks begin at Dusk and will last about 45 minutes (The guest hotel is a 10minutes ride from the event).

Please let us know if you are deciding to join us so we can make sure we get a big enough spot for our group.

**2 Miles from the Hotel (6 Minute Drive)**

Molly & Kyle

Molly & Kyle

Registry