How did the two of you meet?
Serendipitous long-distance Tinder-ing followed by meeting up for a drink that turned into talking for 7 hours!
Give us the proposal details! When? Where? How?
Our one-year anniversary was 10/04/16 and I gave Ellie a stack of cards that each represented an important date from our first year (first date all the way to our first anniversary). Each had a date, a location, and a paragraph explaining the importance of that date. I told Ellie that she would be getting another card eventually. On 11/12/16, I set up a photo session with a photographer for what Ellie thought was Christmas card pictures. We took pictures around Belle Isle in Detroit (where we lived at the time) and right when the sun was setting, I walked her out to Sunset Point.
I kept having these moments of affirmation that next to her, was exactly where I was supposed to be.
On the walk out there, I started to tell Ellie how I kept having these moments of affirmation that next to her, was exactly where I was supposed to be. I knew that these moments would be some of the most cherished memories I’ll ever make. Once we made it out to the water, with the Detroit skyline as our backdrop, I asked Ellie if she would make this moment another lifelong memory and presented her with one of the cards from our anniversary a month earlier. Only this one had all the details from that day. I then pulled out Ellie’s ring and asked her to help me spend the rest of our lives making memories together. After a shocked silence, Ellie said yes!
Evan Gonzalez
What has been your favorite experience planning the wedding?
I’m a designer, and so when it comes to aesthetic anything, I tend to think I know best. But listening to some of the great ideas my fiancé has shared has been really fun. Our wedding will be equal parts of both our styles and I can’t wait to see them blend in front of our eyes.
How do you stay sane under the pressures of wedding planning?
Ellie and I have struggled to maintain the balance between being productive and being relaxed. We found the best way to keep the planning fun is to schedule specific time for wedding planning and specific time for enjoying each other, without any talk of the wedding. Our focus still has to be on us and the love we share, not on the life-consuming task of pulling off a wedding!
What is your favorite part of using Joy for your wedding?
It’s a really great tool for organizing all of the pieces into one easy-to-use platform. All of our information is on one site so when we need to reference anything, or when we need to point our family and friends towards information, we only need one arrow.
What piece of advice would you give couples to ensure that they use Joy to its fullest potential?
I made our Joy site months ago when we first got engaged. I check back in every few weeks to update our page so that it was current. Filling the entire thing out from scratch could be overwhelming, so taking it in stride (much like planning, itself) is really helpful!
At Joy we believe that even though a wedding lasts a day, joy lasts forever. What does that mean to you?
My fiancé and I have both said, that while we’re really excited for the wedding day, were even more excited for the day after! That might sound silly, but we’re looking forward to living our normal lives together, as wives. Parties are fun, especially when everyone you love will be in one room, dancing to your favorite songs and eating your favorite cake. What’s even more fun, is getting to live our lives together in married bliss.
