Rebecca and Scott are both very community-minded, so they both ended up at the United Way year-end planning retreat. Everyone was going around the room introducing themselves and saying something interesting. Scott was the third person who said he liked running. Someone jokingly predicted Rebecca would say she likes running. She smirked, “Do I look like a runner?” before saying she enjoys horseback riding. There was something about the snarky way she said that that stuck with Scott. He needed to get to know her.
The first chance came during the United Way bowling night early the next year. As everyone was leaving for the bar after and she was about to go home, he nervously asked her if she wanted to go together. They both went but barely talked one-on-one or heard each other amidst the loud bar noise. No numbers were exchanged….
You need to remember that the wedding is just one day there is no reason to stress about it too much. Make it a celebration of your love to each other but don’t let it take over your relationship.
Until five months later Scott needed someone to go with to be in his foursome (ahem, for mini-golf). He called United Way and asked to speak with Rebecca on her work phone: “Hi this is Scott from NIRPC calling, can I please speak with Rebecca?” Her officemate Michael handed off the phone, “Uh, NIRPC is calling you.” She picked up and the ask was made—30 seconds, minute tops. It was set! The mini-golf night was fun, and again it came time for going to the bar after. This time, they actually talked and she made him take her number.
Give us the details! When? Where? How?
Scott decided in June that he was going ask me to marry him, so he did the proper thing and asked my parents. Then he waited until August 12th because I had a really large community event coming up at work, the United Way Day of Caring, and he knew I wouldn’t be expecting it. I had been so busy making sure the event was ready, I didn’t have time to notice anything strange going on. With the help of my coworker and friend Mackenna, he got a bunch of our friends together for drinks after the event. He took a huge gamble knowing that I could be too exhausted to go.
He really lucked out that there was a thank you event I had to attend at the downtown park. He knew he wanted to propose at the Central Park so our friends made sure we walked by the park. As we got to the park he started to drag me to a bench. Right before he got down on one knee I looked at him and angrily asked, “What are you doing?” Then he asked me with a very sweet speech. Of course I said yes!
What has been your favorite experience planning the wedding?
We have been having the most fun figuring out how to think outside the wedding box. We were excited to make our wedding as unique to us as possible.
How do you stay sane under the pressures of wedding planning?
We have a very detailed budget and we take time to just spend with each other where we don’t do any wedding planning. Having breaks between planning has really help us. Also I’m an event planner by trade so planning a party for 150 is rather easy compared to planning a volunteer event for 1,500.
Loryn Eaton Photography.
What was your favorite part of using Joy for your wedding?
It has been super easy to use very plug and chug but lets you put your own spin to the pages, so you don’t have to be tech savvy to build a beautiful webpage.
What piece of advice would you give couples to ensure that they use Joy to its fullest potential?
Don’t sit down and try to get your site done in one day. Work on your site over a week or so in very small manageable chunks. You will feel less stress about getting the site done. Also don’t fall into the trap of trying to put all the wedding info out there the similar you make it the easier it will be for your guest to get the most out of it.
At Joy we believe that even though a wedding lasts a day, joy should last forever. What does that mean to you?
This means to us that you need to remember that the wedding is just one day there is no reason to stress about it too much. Make it a celebration of your love to each other but don’t let it take over your relationship. Make sure you spend time with friends, family, and each other not talking about the wedding.
