Old Rock House

Wedding Day

Ceremony

Cocktail Hour

Dinner

Live Band

Our Wedding

Nate and Sam met in January 2020, then the world fell apart. Their story starts on the internet, where Sam claimed her dog needed a role model who could show him how to tie a tie. Despite struggling with such things, Nate was immediately intrigued. Long phone and text conversations followed, and Nate quickly asked Sam on a date. She said yes and suggested they visit a local coffeehouse and record store the following Saturday. The next week felt like the longest of their lives, and they both confessed to spending it wishing the days away. Minutes after they exchanged nervous hellos in person, Nate threatened everything by revealing he doesn’t like coffee. At all. Despite her shock and horror, Sam stuck around. From there, everything was magic. Their plans for a quick morning became the entire day — and the next. Within weeks, they were inseparable. By early March, they’d planned a trip to Chicago, taking the train to see Nate’s brother and his family. That weekend, the first case of Covid-19 was reported in Missouri — a student returning from a semester abroad on Amtrak from Chicago’s Union Station. Faced with the prospect of time apart while the country tried to thwart the virus, Nate and Sam decided to ride it out together. When two weeks of flattening the curve became an unrelenting pandemic, they happily sat at Sam’s eating bags of movie theatre popcorn picked up curbside and watching TV shows Nate had never seen, like “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation,” and “Ozark.” Eventually the world started inching toward normal, and the life Nate and Sam were building did, too. There were nights of live music; family vacations in Florida, Tennessee, and Wisconsin; and, Sam’s favorite, Labor Day weekends in Topeka. They moved in together, making unlikely step-brothers of Sam’s Great Pyrenees, Moe, and Nate’s pug, Bacon. Then, on a whim, they adopted Ray, a dog-like cat Nate once compared to the Grand Canyon. And when the time came to say goodbye to Moe, who was no closer to wearing a tie but full of french fries and eternally loved, Nate and Sam leaned on each other and learned they could endure anything. The following summer, Walter — another Great Pyrenees — entered their life to try their patience and heal their hearts. Marriage was the next step, and they both knew it. Even after shopping for an engagement ring together, Nate surprised Sam by proposing after co-opting his infant nephew’s birthday party. Once again, Sam stuck around. Now, after five years of the unexpected, Nate and Sam are ready to meet the future the only way they know how — together.

Samantha & Nate

Samantha & Nate

Registry

Cash gifts for future adventures will fill our memories not our home.