KELLY + MARC

Kelly and Marc met when they were younger at the Greenfield First Baptist Church. They grew up together in the same friend group. In high school, during Kelly’s senior year, Marc asked Kelly to be his girlfriend. After a few short months of dating, they decided they were better off friends seeing as Kelly was going to be going to college the next year at Eastern Illinois University. They stayed friends throughout those next four years, and spent time together anytime Kelly was home from college. Marc even visited her a few times while Kelly was there.

Marc loved everything about Kelly.  And she loved Marc’s personality and his ability to be a good friend to every friend he has. She loves that he has the best, most giving heart. By July 21, 2017 the two were officially dating. By 2019 Marc knew he was going to ask Kelly to marry him and started to look at rings that December. He waited almost another year to ask Kelly’s dad permission to marry her. Then he figured – why not wait some more? lol Marc proceeded to wait another whole year to ask Kelly to marry him.
He finally came to the decision he wanted to do it prior to going to their hometown for Thanksgiving and Marc’s birthday celebrations. Early in the week, Kelly asked Marc if he wanted to schedule a dinner to celebrate his birthday together just the two of them, and Marc said he didn’t want to. (Little did she know, he had bigger plans for them) Marc planned to ask Kelly on the Wednesday morning in their home after waking upin the morning. However, Kelly was antsy to go to their hometown,and  asked Marc if they could leave that Tuesday night instead. Even though it messed up his plans, Marc agreed they could head to Greenfield that night. While Kelly was rushing through the house packing to leave, Marc got down on one knee and completely shocked Kelly. Kelly knew he would pop the question sometime, but was not expecting it that day. She instantly said yes and then they headed to dinner to celebrate their engagement and Marc turning another year older. Wedding planning started the next day and they booked the venue, photographer, and videographer all before Friday! After going to several weddings in the past few years, wedding planning was extremely easy. They knew the venue and vendors that we wanted to help celebrate their special day. Which day was the only question as we knew our venue was filling up dates very quickly. Knowing that we didn’t want to wait more than a year, Kelly asked the owner of the venue when the available dates were in 2022. There were only 5 dates left and they had weddings to attend on two of the days and then the other two days were holiday weekends, so July 23rd was the date! After setting the date, they realized it was the same weekend they started dating 5 years earlier!

We are SO excited to show you this perfect day!! Enjoy a peek at Kelly and Marc’s Wedding Day!Walnut Hall Estate in Carrolton IL never disappoints! “We have went to several weddings at Walnut Hall in the year since they opened. We knew that we wanted to support the new venue and its amazing owners from our small town. Additionally, since majority of our guests were from the local area, we wanted to make sure that we got married around home to make it more convenient for our guests. There was no question when we got engaged on where we were getting married, I texted Brittany immediately! ” Kelly’s parents have given each of their girls a gift that includes ‘something borrowed, something blue, something old, and something new” at our rehearsal dinner. ‘Something borrowed’ – there were two silver hearts stuck in Kelly’s bouquet that each one of the girls have used on their wedding day. ‘Something blue’ – Was a blue guardian angel pin that was given to Kelly by her parents as a reminder that God is always there for us. This was pinned on her dress. ‘Something new’ – Was a diamond necklace that Kelly’s dad picked out specifically for her. Kelly wore this on rehearsal night, but kept them safely secured away on the wedding day to ensure they would not be lost. ‘Something old’ – Kelly’s dad had four sapphire rings that he gave to Kelly’s mom over the years intended to give one to each daughter on their wedding day and one was for her mom to keep. “While my bridesmaids were all off getting dressed, I took a moment to myself and read the letter from Marc. I always knew that I picked the ‘right one’ for me, but that letter made me feel it even more! He is my ‘one.’ “ “One moment I will always treasure is our’no look, first touch’. Honestly, I loved getting to hold hands and talk to Marc, even for a short bit prior to the wedding. Truly a special moment. “Kelly had a top 3 moments that she looked most forward to on her wedding day – and this was one of them:And this was Marc’s:The officiant of the wedding was Kelly’s uncle. “When we were trying to decide on an officiant, Dan immediately came to mind as both of us were close to him and his family. We wanted to have a personal touch to our day while also still incorporating scripture and the unity cross. ““One moment that I will remember is the feeling right after exiting the ceremony, that ‘just married high.’ It was so special finally getting to have some time together! ““The ice cream truck was a fan favorite and a fun way to keep some of our favorite little kids entertained, especially on the hottest day of the year.” “Kelly enjoys personalized gifts and decor, so we had to have a few of those, including some of our amazing engagement photos! All of the personalized decor was purchased as a multi use and also being used as decor in our home. Additionally, the personalized sign behind our head table, Marc designed, which makes it special!”“One funny note/surprise was that after the ceremony, our DJ (Epic is awesome!) came up to me and told me he had a surprise for me during our first dance, if I was okay with it. Me being me, I was like yes, without even know what it was but completely trusted our vendors. No one besides me, one of my bridesmaids, and the DJ knew about this surprise. During dinner, the DJ came up and gave us instructions to stay between the two black boxes during our first dance. So when we went out to dance I told Marc to stay between the two boxes, when the first sparklers shot up, Marc jumped and said ‘Woah, thats cool’. I laughed soo hard! Then from afar, my mom nudged my sister and said ‘That must be Marc’s gift to Kelly’ but little did they know, Marc was also shocked!”One of Marc’s favorite moments of the day was their first dance. “It was a time we got to spend together talking about our day so far and getting to take it all in together.
“‘Our first dance song was ‘I Always Knew’ by Willie Shaw. We knew we wanted something ‘different’ for our first dance. When this song came out in 2020, it perfectly suited our relationship. Even during times we were just friends, we were always drawn to each other and a little flirty. The song just fit our relationship as we feel like we always knew we were right for each other. ”
Father/Daughter dance  – ‘What It Means To Be Loved’ by Mark Schultz – this song was picked because Kelly collapsed a lung at birth and they were not sure she was going to make it. After a few weeks stay in the NICU on a ventilator, Kelly got to come home. This song has always reminded Kelly of her parents love for her as they truly do ‘give her the world’ and ‘show her what it means to be loved.’ Kelly knew from high school that this was going to be her father/daughter dance at her wedding.
Mother/Son – ‘Thought You Should Know’ by Morgan Wallen – One of Marc’s favorite singers is Morgan Wallen. When Morgan released this song for his own mom, it was the perfect song for Marc to dance with his mom. “I honestly think my favorite part of the day was after everyone else was gone and it was just me and Marc. We talked and talked about how well the day went, our favorite parts, funny things that happened, and how loved we felt!”

If you could do it all over, would you change anything?

Advice for future bride/grooms?