The Backstage Event Center

Welcome Party

Holy Cross - Immaculata Catholic Church

Nuptial Mass

Maketewah Country Club

Cocktail Hour and Reception

Brunch

Summer

Our Wedding

First, we became friends

Nicholas and I first met on a freshman retreat at St. Louis University in January 2020. I went up to Nicholas and introduced myself. I asked him lots of questions and realized we had lots of similar friends. Within the weeks following the retreat, Nicholas and I slowly weaved into each other's lives at SLU.

We stayed friends for a few years, until...

With COVID-19 keeping us at home from spring break, 2020, until the start of Sophomore Year, we continued to keep in contact via phone calls while driving to/from our summer jobs. Back at SLU, with social distance regulations in place, we all had to get creative to find spaces where groups of friends could all hang out. That is where a weekly tradition of ‘family dinner’ began. Each Sunday, us and our new friend group prioritized eating dinner, playing games or doing homework together. Time together started to branch off from weekly dinners in large groups to ‘rosary walks’ and lunches on campus, just the two of us. Pretty quickly I got asked by my roommate (Madeline) and friends (Emily and Rachael) if I thought of Nicholas as more than a friend. I often would brush it off (for two years) and say, “no we are just really good friends.” Early sophomore year, we went on a long walk, and I was wanting to talk to Nicholas about my possible feelings toward our friendship. Toward the end he asked me, “How would you view our friendship?” Before I could respond, Nicholas quickly answered by saying, “because I see you as a really good friend in my life.” So, I proceeded to agree with him and hold back any other emotions. But that conversation is one that is most memorable and recalled because of something else Nicholas said. Completely unaware of the future of our friendship, Nicholas shared, “I have always thought it is important to marry your best friend.” Our friendship with each other as well as a small group of friends, only grew stronger throughout college. We all took road trips to Colorado and Florida, spent weekends away, got to know each other’s families, and ended up living only one floor apart come senior year. The transition from friendship to dating began the summer before Senior year. Nicholas was home for the summer and I was in St. Louis before going back to summer camp. I finally worked up the courage to have a conversation about boundaries and standing of our friendship. I finished that conversation by saying, “I think we should come back senior year and talk about our friendship because I do not want us to be in the same place next year at this point.” That summer led me to telling people at camp that I thought we would start dating at school!&nbsp;

... we started going on dates

Meanwhile, my summer before senior year was spent thinking about where I wanted my life to go post-grad, as I did an internship with a summer baseball league at home and built important prayer habits. It was very clear that God was leading me to ask Maddie out on a date, and I simply could not avoid that. So we went out on one date, then another, until soon enough I realized that, just like the way our friendship was rooted in many good qualities, those were evident in a budding relationship as well. After almost a month back at school, during a picnic in Forest Park, I planned to ask Maddie to be my girlfriend. With a push from Maddie before I could even get to it, I asked her, and we began dating on Sept. 24, 2022. A couple months of both exciting and challenging times ensued in our relationship, as we managed through turning a very good friendship with defined boundaries into a romantic relationship amidst being around our friends… all the time.

With many adventures along the way,

The rest of senior year consisted of exploring STL beyond our SLU bubble, visiting Cincinnati, and rounding out our time in college. The spring of 2023 was a time of deciding what was to come after graduation. We celebrated lots of lasts and final moments with our friends as we continued to grow closer together as a couple. In making decisions about plans post-grad, we definitely had to learn how to balance our priorities for dream jobs and experiences with our relationship. In doing so, Nicholas accepted a job at Boeing in STL to start in August, and I accepted a pediatric nursing job in STL to start in January. Given some missed opportunities to go abroad and have other life experiences in college, I ultimately discerned serving as a lay missionary with the Glenmary order in East Tennessee from August - December, before moving back to STL for my job. This meant we had to work through many firsts together; first months post-grad, in new jobs; first time doing long distance; first time living away from home without such a strong and abundant community of&nbsp;young adults all around us. Our friendship was a reminder to us about the power of conversation and listening. Practicing this for a few years before dating helped us grow and prioritize each other despite being many miles apart. We were blessed to be able to fit in a couple visits before I moved back to STL in January.&nbsp;

I was very glad to not be long distance after only those four long months. I knew Maddie moving back to St. Louis meant there would be a noticeable transition in living more than one floor apart and not with our friends always around. Time with Maddie naturally became more intentional. In January 2024, I started school, she started a new job, and we quickly fought for time to do everything we wanted together. Nonetheless, I felt very confident in our relationship and deep friendship together, so my desire to find time each day to play pickleball, pray, eat dinner, go on walks, or just talk with her was very important to me, regardless of everything else. It was around April when I first mentioned the idea of marriage to Maddie. She will usually remind me of that - I cannot claim to remember all the details quite like she can. I had gone to my first two weddings that past winter and we had four more coming up that summer, so it very naturally came as a topic of conversation to us. That summer we made an effort to spend more intentional time with each other’s families, really getting to know where we come from and building a relationship with what we were starting to feel more strongly would be our future in-laws.

it is clear to us that Our Love will last forever! 

Towards the end of July, Maddie went to try on a few rings for the first time with her mom and sisters. When they came home that day, I remember sensing a strong shift. From that day on, and with much grace from many conversations and experiences together so far that year, I knew I wanted to ask Maddie to take this life on together with me. After a couple months of planning, impatiently waiting, driving from St. Louis to Cincinnati without her knowing, and dodging Maddie’s inquisitive nature about a possible ring, I got to surprise her (as best I possibly could) on September 28th. Maddie brought me to the overlook at Holy Cross Immaculata (where we are now getting married!) several times before, and she shared how it was one of her favorite places in the whole city. I was dead set on proposing there; there was no plan B. Consequently, that ended up meaning I had to propose amidst the rainy remains of Hurricane Helene. That did not take away from the special moment that we were able to share, receiving the Eucharist at mass together, praying together, and getting to ask Maddie to be my best friend forever.

Our Story

Photos

Emma Campbell

Scott Sullivan

Grace Campbell

Josh Campbell

Sarah Campbell

Grant Gottschalk 

Caroline Sullivan 

Paul Gillam

Emily Kolb 

Joe Feder

Rachael Behling 

Gavin Larnard

Madeline Hammell

Nikolaus Ryczek

Wedding Party

Click on this link:<a href="https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1736451328412&amp;key=GRP&amp;guestreslink2=true&amp;app=resvlink" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Book for Campbell-Sullivan Wedding</a>

Residence Inn by Marriott Cincinnati Midtown Rookwood

Travel

Q + A

Registry

A great spot for different laid-back food &amp; drink options. We recommend Hi-Wire Brewing!

Factory 52

A lively neighborhood in the heart of Cincinnati with lots of great restaurants and bars - our favorite restaurant is The Eagle.

Over-the-Rhine Neighborhood

If you're bringing your pickleball rackets, these are nice courts in downtown Cincinnati. Or walk down the riverwalk to see the riverfront and Cincinnati's top sports stadiums.

Sawyer Point Pickleball & Tennis Courts

Another highly recommended local brewery.

MadTree Brewing

If you're looking for a local staple, visit a Graeter's Ice Cream for an amazing homemade treat to cool off (we can't get enough of the Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip!) or Skyline Chili for a classic Cincinnati cheese coney.

Graeter's Ice Cream & Skyline Chili

For the whiskey fans, lots of distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail are not too far from Cincinnati. One of the most popular distilleries, <a href="https://www.buffalotracedistillery.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Buffalo Trace</a>, is not on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, but highly recommended and within 1.5 hours of Cincinnati!

Nicholas & Madeleine

Nicholas & Madeleine

Q + A

What will parking look like at Holy Cross - Immaculata?