Oh my goodness! Aly and Garrett's love story is so SWEET! And the proposal - WOW! He really thought of everything. Enjoy!
How did you meet? - We met on Bumble (a dating app) and after a few days of chatting, decided to give this a shot in person. We met on August 3rd, 2018 and had our first date at the westside Vintage Brewery. Garrett initially wanted to play mini golf, which Aly initially agreed with but suggested dinner and drinks instead (in Aly's defense - it was a Friday night in August and Vitense would be packed! Plus what was she going to do with her purse while we were mini golfing?/how do you have first date talk while you're putting on the green?) It was an instant connection and our first date ended up being over 7 hours! We've seen each other every day since our first date.
How did he propose? - We got engaged on September 22, 2019. Garrett brought Aly to Vintage on a Sunday with the pretense of meeting some friends to watch the Packers game. He suggested we sit in the same booth as our first date while we waited for his friends to get there. We ordered a bloody mary (Aly's favorite) and joked about our first date in that same spot. The waitress came back with our bloodies and handed us a specials menu, which unbeknownst to Aly, had a special message for her. Simultaneously, as she handed Aly the special menu, our favorite song came on - Howling at Nothing by Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats. Aly said to Garrett, "Do you hear what's playing right now?!" Garrett just smiled and asked if there was anything on the specials menu that peaked her interest. Under the "mac of the moment" special, it said "Even the best mac and cheese can't make me as happy as you do" (which is the biggest compliment because Garrett LOVES mac and cheese). Then on the back he had written a heartfelt letter to her. He then proceeded to get down on one knee and propose! Little did Aly know that his mom and sister were there in the background - taking pictures and putting some of our favorite songs on overhead. He had then planned that both his family and her family were there waiting at his parent's house so we could all celebrate together!
And any other info you'd like to include. - Our original wedding date was 9/26/2020 and we came to the tough decision like many other couples about what to do about having the wedding we planned during a pandemic. We ultimately chose to get married on 9/25/2020 in a small, intimate ceremony with our immediate families present in Aly’s brother and sister-in-law’s backyard. It was a beautiful, September evening that was so special to both of us! We got to have the wedding that we planned on having a year later on 9/25/2021 when it was safe to have all our friends and family there to celebrate our marriage. We’re happy that we got to have the best of both worlds - an intimate marriage ceremony with our family and get to celebrate with the big celebration a year later! We’re happy we didn’t postpone getting married and as a bonus - everyone got to be there to celebrate our one year anniversary with us! We recently bought a home in Oregon and got our first dog together, Holly, a few weeks ago!
Where did you get married?
- We had our one year vow renewal/one year celebration at Martinson Hall in Mount Horeb, WI. It’s a beautiful venue and they were very accommodating! It’s a very cool space and we got so many compliments on it!
What is one thing you wish you knew when planning your wedding? - I wish that I didn’t worry so much about all the little details and that things would fall into place the day of (and they do!). I would have saved myself a lot of stress in the months leading up to the wedding! - It’s also ok to buy hardly used candles that you find secondhand because your photographer only takes pictures of the lit candles and they’ll be lit by the time your guests see them anyway! That can be a big money saver!
What advice would you give brides? - Everyone says it, but the day goes by SO fast! Try to take moments throughout the day to take it all in and enjoy it! All of you hard work planning this wedding is actually coming together! - Do not stress over the little details! All that matters is that you and your fiancé are getting married and everyone is there to celebrate the two of you! People don’t remember your center pieces that you spent hours fretting over. - Everything works out in the end and all your planning is worth it!
What was your experience like at Premiere Couture?
- My experience was lovely! Mary Jo was so kind and helpful in assisting me with finding my wedding dress. She had my mom and I laughing during the whole process and she was very knowledgeable about the process. I felt very special and I could feel that she was truly excited for me to find my wedding dress and for wedding in general! Mary Jo actually pulled the wedding dress that I ended up picking because she just has that eye.
What was your favorite moment of your wedding? - That is a tough question as the day was just perfect! After our ceremony, we went out to Brigham County Park, just Garrett, myself, and our photographer Errin for our sunset photos. We enjoyed having a moment to ourselves while we got to take some really beautiful pictures. Plus we had a lot of fun shooting with Errin! One of other favorite moments was at dinner - the food did not come out right away after Garrett’s dad had given his speech so there was a moment with awkward silence and everyone looking around. Just then, our DJ played “That’s Amore” and my Italian uncles just started belting out the lyrics to the song and all the rest of our guests joined in. It was great! Everyone kept singing as the servers began bringing out the food. We loved that! Any vendors you'd love to share: Venue: Martinson Hall in Mount Horeb, WI Photographer: Errin Hiltbrand Photography Florist: Heather Hill Floral Design Caterer: Minhas Kitchen DJ: Steve from Kuhl Entertainment