Jess and Kel met in Marysville at work through a mutual acquaintance. “I was just promoted to a new position and I was receiving off-site training at the store where she was working,” says Kel. Jess remembers there was something about him that intrigued her, so she decided to get to know him better. “I even would stop at the store where he worked to ‘accidentally’ run into him,” she says. “That is where I suggested he take down my number.”
Together for about six years and raising their first child at a house they bought together, the couple began discussing the possibility of a wedding. “I always told her if I ever did pop the question it would be random and she wouldn’t see it coming,” says Kel. “One night we were watching one of our favorite television shows in bed, all I was thinking about is that I was ready to ask the question. I don’t know if it was the show that we were watching or if something inside of me was telling me to do it. It felt like it was a now or never.”
The couple took into account each other’s wishes and vision when planning out the wedding. “Kel wanted a winter wedding, and so I felt like I needed it to be season appropriate with colors and décor,” says the bride. “I wanted to walk into my ceremony space and reception space and be blown away.” She got plenty of inspiration from Pinterest and engaged the help of wedding planner, Aimee Wendell with 2Chic Events & Design. “She was able to take our vision from our description and exceed any expectations we may have had,” says Jess.
In addition to giving his bride the day of her life, Kel wanted to make sure his family, his mother in particular, knew how much of a role she played in my life. “It was more of a ‘thank you’ to them,” he says.
The couple exchanged vows in a romantic ceremony in The Citizen Hotel’s Plaza Park Ballroom surrounded by friends and a backdrop of soft white lights. “I was very nervous prior to coming in from the lobby,” recalls Kel. “I was trying to shake the nerves out by hyping myself up as if I was getting ready to step on a football field. As the door opened and everyone rose to their feet, all I did was hope I wouldn’t trip while walking down the aisle.”
The reception was held upstairs in the hotel’s Metropolitan Terrace. “We wanted the ceremony space to be a little on the simple but elegant side so that our reception space would be a surprise and leave an everlasting impression,” says Jess. “The table settings, linens, flowers and lighting captured everything beautifully.
In addition to the touching speeches, dancing and overall merriment, the couple remembers their last dance as particularly special moment. “We started dancing and by the middle of the song everyone created a circle around us as we ended the night with just us dancing,” remembers Kel. “It was very special.”
—Darren Elms
