Matt and I met through mutual friends in 2010 when I was 18 and he was 19. I went to the University of Iowa and he went to Iowa State University, so we spent four years in different cities while I was in school and he was in college or had graduated and was living back at home in Des Moines. In September 2016, I arrived home from work to roses and champagne. Matt led me to our living room where he played a video of all our favorite TV characters getting engaged or married. Matt set the video clips to “Sweet Thing” by Van Morrison. He built a fort in our study (that stayed up much longer after the fact than Matt would have liked) and asked me to marry him. I said “of course!”

We planned an outdoor wedding for a year later, but the Iowa weather didn’t agree we us. We ended up having to move the ceremony and cocktail hour inside because it was 92 degrees out with intense humidity. My dad had even built an arbor we were going to use as our backdrop outside. We were so disappointed at first, but it ended up not mattering one bit the day of the wedding. We moved the arbor instead and my wedding coordinator and venue made sure everything was just as beautiful as it would’ve been outside. When I walked down the aisle, I didn’t think at all about the room we were in. And, we did our wedding party photos before the wedding, so being out in the heat with them also solidified our decision! It was an amazing day, and everything we both dreamed about.

My dress was absolutely perfect! The back was amazing, and even though I was sad to have to bustle the train once the dancing started, the dress looked beautiful with or without a bustle. So many people came up to me or my mom to tell us how well the dress fit my style and personality.