December 7, 2021 • 0

Taylor & Ryan 06.24.21

THE MEETING

Taylor & Ryan met during their Freshman year at the University of Missouri. They lived in the same dorm building where they first became friends. They remained as just friends throughout their college years together and began dating post graduation.

We just grew from close friends to much more throughout our relationship… We knew each other for 5 years before we started dating and were good friends for so long that it just naturally evolved and developed over time.

THE FIRST DATE

Our first official date was April 20, 2013 in Chicago at the Shedd Aquarium and dinner at Viaggio in the West Loop. We still go back to Viaggio on our dating anniversary each year!

THE I LOVE YOU

Ryan [said it first]! On a Homecoming trip back to our college town.

THE PROPOSAL

Ryan planned an amazing day for us where he recreated our first date. We hadn’t been back to the Shedd Aquarium since that day. We went to breakfast beforehand at Lou Mitchell’s and had arranged for a photographer to be waiting outside the aquarium (he ended up being our wedding photographer too!) We were inside the aquarium when Ryan got a “work call” and asked me to come outside with him.

We walked down the steps, he got on one knee, Taylor was so surprised and the rest is history! We took some photos and the day wasn’t done yet… Ryan had arranged for both of our families and all of our closest friends to be waiting for us to surprise me and celebrate!

THE WEDDING DAY

Taylor & Ryan celebrated their wedding with us on June 24th, 2021.

Ryan: Our first look because I got to see my wife for the first time.

It was just nice to be together, just the two of us, to see her in her dress. Everything just felt real at that point.

Taylor: First when we read our vows to each other. It felt like the moment we could finally exhale and knew we made it! It was so special to have written our own vows.

Second was when we were introduced into the reception and just seeing all of our loved ones in the same room and dancing down to our sweetheart table was so much fun and so memorable.

THE VENUE

Taylor’s mom’s friend’s daughter had gotten married there and she told us how great it was. We had seen several venues beforehand and there was just always something missing from each one. We were holding out hope that The Haight was just as great as what we had heard and seen online.

Once we were there, Nicole’s walkthrough and tour sold us and we reached out to book that day! We left knowing it was the perfect venue for us.

THE ADVICE

Find a venue that has an incredible wedding planning staff (like The Haight!) or hire an outside wedding planner! Lock in your vendor team as early as you can! Start early, save often, and don’t sweat the small stuff.

THE SHOUTOUTS

We’re so thankful for our parents for helping make our day possible and for setting such great examples for each of us throughout our lives.

Our ENTIRE vendor team was amazing. They made our day perfect. Mary Catherine and Cuisine America were wonderful. We still get compliments on how amazing the food was almost 4 months later.

Bluewater Kings Band kept everyone on the dance floor the whole night and were so fun! Our photographers were amazing – Dear Floyd and Arielle Gallione – and so was our video team – Spark Weddings!

An obvious shout out to The Haight team as well. Lauren perfected our day of timeline and helped immensely with every detail. We never had to worry about anything throughout the entire planning process and we’re so grateful for that.

THE ATTIRE

Ryan, his groomsmen, ushers, our officiant and the Father of the Bride all got their suits from SuitShop

Taylor got her dress at Bri’Zan Couture and the bridesmaid dresses were from Azazie.