Bachelorette Night

Bridal Shower

Faith Covenant Church

Rehearsal Dinner

Wedding Day

Ceremony

Reception

*This will be an alcohol free wedding and reception

Our Wedding

Blake and Sarah met online, through Hinge. Sarah was living in Chicago and Blake out in the surburbs (Wheaton). After weeks of messaging and some hints from Sarah they, finally, had a video date. Sarah sat in the park, pictured above, for this call. It was a smooth video date, so an in person date was scheduled shortly to follow it. Blake was always intentional with scheduling the next date right after, yet without any pressure on Sarah to agree to plans. He made clear how he felt about how things were going. His intentionality and care for others shined through from the very beginning.

How We Met

Finally, after a long wait due to Blake's family vacation (which he scheduled the video date during). We met for our first in person date. Blake did his best to plan the date without knowing Chicago and Sarah took the outline of his plan, but suggested some more populated locations.

Our first date ended up being in Chinatown. Blake and Sarah met in Ping Tom Memorial Park (a beautiful spot on the river with a great city view if you are ever in Chicago). They walked and talked. The conversations were flowing and they were both laughing and joking right from the beginning. We then went on to end the date with a dinner. At the end, Sarah really won Blake over by advocating to go back to the restaurant and get his parking validated. Immediately, at the end of the date Blake said he would love to go on another and wasn't expecting an answer right in the moment, but wanted to make his desire for another date clear. He really won Sarah over with his direct communication.

Our First Date

Early Adventures

We went on many Chicagoland adventures for the beginning of the relationship. These adventures took us to one of Sarah's favorite spots, the Garfield Park Conservatory. It was followed by dates to Danada Equestrian Center, taking Blake to see the Chicago bean, Wheaton French Market, going to a Cub' game, and meeting each other's friends. After meeting each other's friends, which involved their first game of Catan, they made things official.

For the holidays Blake and Sarah began to travel back home to Minnesota and Virginia to meet each other's family's and community. First up was Virginia and Sarah's home town. Blake got to start off getting to know the family by being introduced to everyone, the aunts, uncles, parents, sibling, and grandparents. He also got to meet a good chunk of Sarah's friends from college/ high school. They also spent time seeing a bit of Charlottesville and stargazing where they had their first conversation about marriage.

The Holidays

Spring semester involved Blake's birthday (feat. marry me chicken, no hints intended), lots of work dates, Sarah's birthday celebration, and many more in-depth conversations. Sarah and Blake started talking more and more about what marriage might mean for them. The end of the semester was coming and they celebrated Blake's graduation and then it was time for Sarah's lease to end. Every plans she tried to make kept falling through. Then they began to chat about Sarah moving out to Wheaton to be closer together as they were working towards engagement. Sarah took the leap. The summer was filled with job hunting and moving (twice for Sarah, luckily with five phenomenal roommates). Blake was also looking for a job over the summer. They went to the gym together, took trips back to see family again and started planning for engagement. The summer ended with a date chain and an amazing church retreat.

Spring Semester

This photo shows the end, but we will journey back to the beginning to date number one of date chain to begin the story. Blake borrowed an idea that one of our friends from church had used for their proposal, which we called date chain. Blake and Sarah shopped for the ring together, but Blake still wanted to surprise Sarah with the proposal moment. That's where he came up with the idea for date chain. Blake planned out a series of proposal worthy dates to take Sarah on so that she would be surprised with the final proposal moment. Date one happened the day of their anniversary in the same location as their first date, Chinatown. We walked around Ping Tom memorial park. We enjoyed reminiscing about our first date in this same location and just how much we had grown since last year. The date was lovely minus a bird attack.Around the end of the walk around the park Blake started acting really nervous. He was blushing a bit and Sarah turned to see some professional photographers standing not too far away from them but glancing over at times. It was a beautiful scene with one of the best view of the city skyline. Blake had brought along with him a drawstring backpack. They get to the perfect location on the bridge for a beautiful skyline picture, and Blake kneels down and starts rummaging through his backpack. After what felt like an agonizingly long moment for Sarah, Blake pulled out a handwritten poem. It was the first of a series of poems that Blake wrote for these dates. It turns out the photographers were just a coincidence and Blake very much tricked Sarah with this date. They finished the night with a fancy and delicious Italian dinner in little Italy.For the second date they went to the Danada Equestrian Center. It was in the same location that Sarah could first tell she had genuine feelings for Blake and she started crushing on him. This one got a little rained out but it was still a beautiful walk around the spot that they would later take their official engagement photos (see photos tab). The following date was a scavenger where Blake hid several clues for Sarah to find, all in the form of a poem set to their first dance tune. This was at the park they had their first kiss and first dance in.The final date was one Sarah had no idea was a part of date chain. Right after their church retreat we went to a game day in Milwaukee with Sarah's friends (shoutout Rachel, Daniel and Lauren) that it had taken all summer for her to plan. We drove out to Milwaukee for a casual day of games with friends. After a game of Catan (the same game we played with Blake's friends the day we decided to become official), Daniel announces that we were going to go on a picnic. Rachel whipped up some strawberries and homemade whipped cream. Then we all hopped in the car. About 15 minutes into the drive Sarah, finally, was wondering where on Earth we were going. Rachel was quick to jump to the rescue and explain we were going to Lion's Den Gorge Nature Preserve. This was a place that Sarah's mentor (Becky) had planned a trip to for a small group of people a year prior, and one of the most recent adventures Sarah talked about in her first message she sent to Blake on Hinge. Rachel quickly explained that she and Daniel had been wanting to go back for a bit and were hoping to plan a trip sometime this summer. Blake's giddiness, the unbreathable air from the smoke and plan to go for an outdoor picnic, and location maybe should have tipped Sarah off, but she didn't notice. Finally, they arrived at the park after a 30 minute drive and Blake announced they were going geocaching. He took off with the coordinates pulled up on his phone and everyone else followed after. Sarah was still wondering why Blake took off in the lead and why we were now geocaching when the plan Daniel had wanted was a picnic. However, everyone seemed on board so Sarah followed along. Finally, they had made it to the coordinates and Blake reaches in the bush and said he found it. It was a notecard in a plastic bag with one of Sarah's nicknames and another poem. At that time Sarah knew what was going on considering they were in Milwaukee with a group of her close friends and there were hidden poems Blake had hid for her. Her immediate response was, "what in the world." They proceeded to find a few more poems (all of which were still where Blake had hidden them a few days prior). The last one led down to the beach at Lake Michigan where Blake asked as the last line of his poem, "will you be my bride to be?" Sarah of course said yes and they got some beautiful photos of the moment thanks to the photography skills of Rachel.

The Proposal

Our Story

Photos

Grace is both a sister and a best friend for me. I could not be more grateful to have her as my built in best friend for life. Getting to be beside her for years on end and watch her grow has been such a privilege and I could not ask for a better sister standing by my side on my wedding day. She walks in a lot of wisdom and cares deeply for everyone that has the privilege to know her. We have walked a really similar life path through many things, and that's been a gift to share so many interests. It has kept us close throughout the years, but the most special of those was our overlapped year at college where we took classes together (yes we were the same major). I also got to share my campus ministry experience with her that year, and it was amazing to go back years later and be known there as Grace's sister. I got to hear how much everyone in the ministry loved her and how much she loved the community as well. She is someone that makes a big impact everywhere she goes because of her love for God and others. 

Grace Baldwin

Korryn and I were college roommates and instant best friends. She was the freshman randomly assigned to be my roommate while I was a RA. She is hilarious and my adventure buddy, and I am so glad we were both praying for a good college roommate. I couldn't imagine life without her now! She has continued to be a faithful friend and an adventure buddy. She allowed me the opportunity to touch the Pacific Ocean for the first time this year and struggled through frigid conditions of Chicago to make sure we regularly see each other. She's an engineer boss lady that loves living life to the fullest always. Korryn is the first person that encouraged me to just be myself and loved me fully in all the mess. She was with me in the midst of a big healing and transformational time of life. The way she loved me in it showed me the most clear picture of Christ's grace I had up to that point. I wouldn't be who I am today without her friendship. Anyone who gets to be around her gets to know the most funniest and fun person I know. 

Korryn Pudliener

Lauren is the roommate I lived with the longest during my time in Chicago. We dove right in with each other by deciding to live and work together before we ever met. I'm so glad we did because I gained a sister from it and a late night karaoke buddy. She is one of the main people who helped me through some really challenging stages of life and is the most caring, generous, and compassionate friend. People are inspired to be themselves around Lauren because she is one of those safe people you can be your most authentic self around. She's one of the people I goof around the most. Anyone who knows Lauren knows a faithful and beautiful friend.

Lauren McDaniel

Nicole and I met through leading a Bible study together my junior year of college then continued a steady long distance friendship over the years. She is one of the most loyal and consistent friends who always points me to Jesus. She has shown up extravagantly in our friendship, sometimes calling me daily to check in and to share life. She is someone who continually inspires me to authenticity, integrity, and vulnerability. Though most of our friendship has been long distance, our friendship doesn't lose its closeness. Its been fun to grow alongside her through various seasons of life. She is great at encouraging me to look at how I can continue to grow in Christ and be more like him in every area of life. Not only does she encourage growth, but she continually checks in to see how that growth is going and comes alongside me in it.

Nicole Roethlisburger

Rose and I got to know each other in college. We ended up talking late one night after some event, outside our residence halls in the rain, as it normally goes in college. We realized we were both RAs and involved in the same campus ministry and instantly clicked. Rose (and her now husband) became one of the people I would take adventure trips with. Although, I can't quite keep up with their climbing adventures like the one from Lane Stadium. We bonded over our stories and our faith walk. She is one who loves the Lord deeply and loves to help others know him better. Her love for learning and continual work towards growth are evident in her journey with her PhD, in Chemistry at Virginia Tech, that she wraps up soon. It can also been seen in her life in the way she challenges those she loves with such grace. I have seen her consistently commit to loving deeply and working with excellence in every role she has been in. Even though we connect and see each other way less often than we want, she is someone who I can pickup right where I left off with at anytime.  

Rose Campbell

Yoha and I met in Chicago at my church, Oasis. She has been a light in my life and a person who has continually challenged me to continue to grow in my faith. Anyone who speaks with her can see how obvious her love for God is. She is a funny and inspiring friend. Her vulnerability and trust in God is something that encourages me to keep leaning into God through all life's circumstances. She is so happy to go out of her way for her friends and to invite people into her life. It's been a privilege to be her friend and to be a part of her life as she journeyed through college then onto work and now a masters program in Chicago. Through all of the transition she trusted God's provision and his plan no matter the delays or roadblocks encountered. She still prioritized being there for her friends and continually pursuing deep community and friendships.

Yoha

Grace and I met at the first event of her freshman year, the annual ice cream social. It was both of our first years in Chicago and we really got to experience the whole journey of living in Chicago together. Grace was in my Bible study but we met up about 3 times a week. There is no way to fully explain how she encouraged me through one of the most stretching years of my life. We continued to meet throughout her college experience, and even a handful of times after I transitioned out of Chi Alpha. She is a master with literature, planning, organizing, style and all things Taylor Swift. She is another one who will work with excellence at all she does. I am so grateful to call her a friend. She loves deeply all who get the honor of calling her friend, family, a teacher, a coach, or a youth group leader. 

Grace Lipowski

My older brother and close friend who is always ready to play some games or talk fantasy sports.

Grant Thompson

My best friend from college, the university sure knows how to place roommates. He is solid and dependable and I'm so grateful to have him as a friend. He's helped me grow in faith and we have gone through many adventures together.

James Lettow

Jacob White

Lane Lindstrom

Matthew Hunt

Levi Hogan

Colton Belfils

Wedding Party

Courtesy block here for 10 rooms (first come first serve)Call the hotel for the Baldwin and Thompson wedding block*Church about 5-10 minutes from hotelCheaper option in the area

Sarah & Blake

Sarah & Blake

S&B

Wedding Day