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Collin and I were set up by mutual friends during COVID – he was in San Diego, and I was in Milwaukee. After months of hearing about one another, he followed me on Instagram and slid into my DMs, stating we would one day get married.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
Our first date was on Sept. 1, 2020, at my little Cass Street apartment. Over a very mediocre and heavily joked-about dinner in my fourth-floor walk-up, we clicked that very night. Two weeks later, Collin left for a two-year naval assignment in Guam, but we never lost touch.
Exactly a year later, we decided to see if what we had earlier was real and planned a weekend trip in Milwaukee. We went to the zoo, watched the sunset from The Outsider rooftop, and had dinner at Pizza Man – and from there, we began building a life together, even through a year of long distance.
When it came time to choose where we’d get married, the decision was easy. We celebrated our wedding at The George and Madcap Lounge surrounded by family, friends and so many personal touches. Our large floral backdrop was created by a close family friend, and the planter boxes where they were placed were inscribed with our initials.
All of the florals for the tables and all the bouquets were created using flowers brought back from Amsterdam by a family friend who is a flight attendant. She lugged loads of them back on two separate work trips. We also included hand-painted pictures of our cats and a surprise Shrek cake at the end of the night. There was a temporary tattoo station where I created small versions of both my husband’s and my tattoos. If it’s not clear already – I am a thrifty girl.
My wedding dress was one I fell in love with years ago and took a screenshot of. I ended up finding the exact one by reverse Google searching for months. I found it on Stillwhite, and when I finally got it, I didn’t even need any alterations, except for the length – I’m short!
Kristen: While we were driving to a cabin in Oregon for a vacation, I played him my favorite podcast and we were both in tears laughing, driving through the mountains.
Collin: When I was in Guam and Kristen was in Wisconsin, we did Facetime cooking dates where we would make the same meal together. With the time change, it was dinner for her and breakfast for me. We were sharing laughs and telling stories for hours cooking together. She made the distance feel small.
