Casey and Will met in San Diego on a training evolution for the Navy. “We had a mutual friend and both were hanging out at the same location one day,” says Casey. “But the sparks didn’t fly there. It wasn’t until about a year later we reconnected and started hanging out again.”
Living in Florida, they made the trip west to visit Will’s family home in Lake Tahoe. “He tricked me into believing that his family was taking Christmas cards photos at the end of the dock on the lake,” she remembers. “Then somehow he got me alone in front of the camera and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.”
Still on a high from their engagement by the lake, the pair decided on Tahoe for their big day. “We both knew we wanted a wedding in the mountains and preferably during the winter,” Casey says. “We were just hoping there wouldn’t be a monster snow storm preventing all our guests from getting into town.”
Will says it was hard planning for a wedding from the other side of the country. “We did a lot of FaceTiming to see different venues and locations,” he shares. “It was also stressful planning a wedding in a short five-month time span,” adds Casey. “Overall though, with the help of our parents and our wedding planner, Shannon Morse with Weddings by Shannon, the wedding was just perfect.”
The ceremony was held at the Queen of the Snows Catholic Church. “It was a really cool church because it had many different countries’ flags hanging above because the 1960 Olympics were held in Squaw Valley,” says Casey. “My favorite part of the day was the walk down the aisle. Leading up to it everyone is constantly asking if you are nervous. But I never once was because I knew I was ready to marry my best friend and partner in crime. When I first saw him as I came down the aisle, I got a huge smile on my face and just wanted to run down the aisle and kiss him. It was hard to control myself. The entire ceremony I had to keep telling myself ‘you can’t kiss him yet, but soon.’”
Making the ceremony extra special, they exited the church through a sword arch, a military tradition. “We chose close friends to create the arch and at the end the last sword bearers ‘request a kiss to pass.’ So we have to kiss in order for them to raise up the swords,” shares the bride.
Guests moved on to the reception at the Olympic Valley Lodge in Squaw Valley. The space was beautifully decorated in white flowers and greenery, a gorgeous setting for the newlywed’s arrival. “The most memorable part for me was walking in with Casey and doing our little dance through the crowd to the stage,” says Will. “Our first dance was really special because we were both nervous that we were going to be really bad at dancing but we crushed it.”
— Darren Elms
