Sophie and Tyler’s story all started at Gull Lake Ministries in the summer of 2023. Sophie's sister, Macey (who is married to Tyler’s best friend Daniel), also happened to be working that summer. Right from the beginning, they were plotting to set Tyler and Sophie up. Although Tyler said he "wasn't interested,"he was secretly hoping that there would be an opportunity to get to know Sophie better.

It didn't take Tyler long to realize that Sophie was the type of girl he wanted to pursue. Their first date was to Chipotle, Tropical Smoothie, and thrifting. (And if you're wondering how the first date went, just know they were official by the end of the date.)

After summer, Sophie went back to school and Tyler stayed in Michigan, which meant after only 1 week of dating, they had to be long distance. In the fall, Sophie and Tyler would FaceTime for hours every night, despite Sophie initially expressing she wanted to “take things slow." Unbeknownst to Sophie, during this time, Tyler had already told his family that he was sure he was going to marry her.

During the winter, one of Sophie’s favorite activities they did together was paint a puzzle. Tyler had bought a blank puzzle, and they spent all evening painting together. Although Sophie didn’t know yet, Tyler had bigger plans for this puzzle than just the painting. When Sophie went back to school after winter break, Tyler began mailing Sophie letters with a few of the puzzle pieces in each envelope. On the back of each piece, Tyler wrote 1 word, so that eventually, when the puzzle was complete, Sophie would have a complete message. This went on for the rest of the school year until the puzzle pieces stopped coming with the letters. For some reason, it was missing two pieces in the middle. Sophie didn’t know if she had accidentally lost these two pieces or if Tyler was purposely withholding them.

Once summer started, Tyler and Sophie both served at Gull Lake Ministries again. Some of their favorite things to do together during the summer outside of serving were go on picnics, watch movies, play basketball, go on walks, and go thrifting. During one weekend, Tyler and Sophie were planning on going on a picnic to their usual picnic spot. As they sat down, Tyler pulled out a journal, and he told Sophie that he had been keeping a journal of memories since the very first date. As Sophie flipped through, Polaroids and words made their past moments together come to life again. Eventually, Sophie flipped to a page in the back of the journal that had the two missing puzzle pieces taped in. One said "Sophia,” and the other said "Grace." Underneath he wrote, “Will you marry me?” As she looked up from the journal, Tyler was on one knee, asking Sophie to spend the rest of their lives together. Sophie was surprised, to say the least, but even more than surprised, she was overjoyed. (She said yes, by the way ◡̈) 

Tyler and Sophie are so thankful for how the Lord has written their story so far and are excited to see how He will continue to work in their lives as they are united in the covenant of marriage. They can’t wait to start their forever together!

S&T

Wedding Day

5:30 PM–9:00 PM

Reception