Collin and Kylee met through a campus ministry in college. A group of Collin’s friends happened to be at Kylee’s house of all places. Collin was in the living room talking with some friends when he noticed this incredible girl out of the corner of his eye—she was chomping on carrots. After that night he first noticed her they didn’t go on a date for two more years. But now, three and a half years later, they are both glad they waited so long after that initial moment.
Give us the proposal details! When? Where? How?
I asked her the big question life has on the evening of her 21st birthday. My roommates and I spent the afternoon transforming my apartment into a fine-dining steakhouse, complete with a candle-lit table for two, soft music, a gallery of pictures of Kylee and me, and of course flowers. When Kylee arrived at my apartment that evening expecting to go to dinner with her brother and sister-in-law, she realized quickly plans were not as expected.
When two people choose to love and serve each other over themselves and learn to grow and live life together, joy results.
I led her inside, and just as we got to the door, her brother (our “waiter” for the evening) greeted us and directed us to sit at the table. Kylee was floored. I don’t think she knew what was happening. We enjoyed an amazing steak dinner, complete with roasted potatoes and vegetables and of course wine and bread—all prepared and provided by close friends.
After dinner, I let her know I had written her something that I would like to read to her. And so I read her our “Story of Us”, a journal of sorts telling of our dating story. It was such rich time traveling back through the course of our relationship, and I won’t ever forget the last page when I let her know I loved her (I’d never told a girl that before) and then proposed to her. Afterwards, we ate dessert at her parent’s house, where family and close friends celebrated with us.
What has been your favorite experience planning the wedding?
Creating our registry was pretty much the coolest thing ever. It’s a humbling thought that wedding guests want to help jump start your life with you! We also loved dreaming up the overall “feel” of our wedding and talking through what the joy and celebration we hope to share with our guests.
How do you stay sane under the pressures of wedding planning?
We try not to take the wedding too seriously. We laugh about things, and we recognize that we will have to be flexible together. A wedding is only one day in the life of two married people, and though it’s the grand opening, and though we want to do our wedding well, we realize it’s way more about celebrating this amazing moment with friends and family, so as long as we can do that, we’re good.
What is your favorite part of using Joy for your wedding?
We love the “polished” feel of the website. It’s just sleek and we like the mobile companion app that guests can use to interact with our wedding on the big day.
What piece of advice would you give couples to ensure that they use Joy to its fullest potential?
Definitely use Joy as the one-stop-shop. Don’t try to have multiple online wedding tools for guests to use. Joy can accommodate everything planning wise, so it makes sense to do everything through Joy.
At Joy we believe that even though a wedding lasts a day, joy lasts forever. What does that mean to you?
Marriage is so amazing because of its capacity to produce joy. When two people choose to love and serve each other over themselves and learn to grow and live life together, joy results. And that type of joy influences others and so on and on. That type of joy lasts forever.
