Cris and Curtis first met as coworkers. With similar senses of humor and sarcasm, they hit it off immediately and built a solid friendship. They both eventually left those jobs and remained friends. Their bond grew stronger, developing into a relationship, and they’ve been together ever since.
Though they’d both been married before, neither Cris nor Curtis had felt a connection like the one they shared. “I’ve heard people say that they just ‘knew’ when they met their soul mate,” she says. “I never understood that until Curtis came into my life. We finish each other’s sentences and can look at each other and know what the other is thinking. We just ‘knew.’ It’s seriously the coolest feeling ever!”
With their wedding, they felt more comfortable breaking most traditions, enabling them to plan the wedding they truly wanted. “We decided to get married on New Year’s Eve!” she says.
All the plans came together quite easily. “I feel like I should feel guilty saying this, but there wasn’t a hard part to planning the wedding,” she says. They picked the Old Sugar Mill as their venue, knowing it would be a great place to get married. Their main goal was to have one big, fun, awesome party and “par-tay all the way to midnight!” Cris says.
Candles and rose petals decorated the aisle during the ceremony, and their kids walked them down the aisle and stood next to them—Curtis’s son and daughter on his side, and Cris’s son and daughter on hers.
The ceremony perfectly epitomized their senses of humor. “Our good friends married us, and included so many personal and touching stories into the ceremony,” she says. “I wore heels Curtis gave me for Christmas when I walked down the aisle, so being that he is shorter than I am, he pulled out a box to stand on for the duration of the ceremony. And our friends made us ro-sham-bo to see who went first to say their vows!”
The reception was packed with party and comfort food, including a mashed potato bar, make-your-own sliders, and a waffle food truck in lieu of wedding cake. As it got close to midnight, they passed out feather boas, hats, horns and blowers. And, at midnight, confetti cannons went off. “It was magical,” she says.
Cris was so relaxed, knowing that at the end of the day, she’d be married to her soul mate. “Everyone who I interacted with that day all said they’d never seen a bride so ‘chill’…I told myself that no matter what went wrong during the day, as long as we ended up married, that’s all that matters. The day couldn’t have been more perfect.”
—Kourtney Jason
First Dance Song
"All or Nothing" by Theory of a Deadman
"At Last" by Etta James (with parents joining us on the dance floor)
Last Dance Song
"Let’s Get it On" by Marvin Gaye
Details about the cake
Custom Belgian waffles for all of our guests; could be customized with fresh strawberries, blueberries, whipping cream and Nutella drizzle
Details about the flowers
Tulips! I’m Dutch and I have a thing for tulips!
Details about the favors
We had bagged custom sugar cookies, 2 in each bag. One said Mr. Right, the other said Mrs. ALWAYS Right.
Anything else you’d like to share about your wedding?
We wanted the opposite of a traditional wedding. It was a super fun New Year’s Eve bash...we were married at 8pm and partied until the New Year! (and well afterwards!).
Our ceremony was awesome...conducted by two dear friends, each with a serious sense of humor. We told them they could include anything they wanted in the ceremony, as long as we ended up married at the end.
Curtis entered to Hells Bells by AC/DC with his two children, ages 16 and 21. Cris entered to Foxy Lady by Jimi Hendrix and was escorted by her two children, ages 13 and 16. I wore 4 inch heels (I’m already several inches taller than Curtis), so Curtis’ son pulled out a box for him to stand on during the ceremony.
Each guest was given a glass of champagne for a toast at the start of the ceremony. We had to Ro-Sham-Bo to see who said their vows first.The ceremony had lots of personal moments about how we met and how we felt about one another. And when the ceremony was over, we took a selfie with the wedding party and guests in the background.
The reception was a giant New Year's Eve party, complete with New Year's Eve hats, horns, beads, feather boas for the ladies, and confetti canons at midnight!! During the toasts, all of our guests surprised us with a flash mob serenade of “I Got You Babe”, as a play on the fact that Curtis and I always call each other babe.
We LOVED our photographer…when we got the pictures we just couldn’t help but be taken back to the day and all of the emotions...she captured the sentiment and feelings of every moment. She was fabulous!
Any tips you’d give brides and grooms planning their wedding today?
Don’t wait until the end to get the details together! I knew what I wanted but was so busy with work that a lot of the main vendors weren’t confirmed until late in the game! Have fun and buck tradition...make the ceremony and reception a celebration of your new life together. And don’t stress on the big day! What ever happens, happens. As long as you’re married at the end of the day, that’s all that really matters. (Plus flubs make for some pretty fun story telling!)
