Wedding Date on Jun 2, 2018

As Ian and Lauryn prepared for their wedding day, they realized their entire lives had been leading up to this point. Their parents have known one another and been close friends since before either one of them was born. Their dads, Ian Sr. and Tom, had been best friends and do triathalons together. So Ian and Lauryn have known one another casually since their earliest memories, but it was only more recently that the two of them decided they wanted their friendship to be a little more. On Ian's birthday a few years ago, he planned to meet his family at their favorite Italian restaurant called Giuseppe's. When his brother and sister-in-law bailed at the last minute, he decided to invite Tom and his wife Diane because Tom had always called him college to ask how he was doing. So he thought he would be a good person to invite just to come hang out. So he invited Tom and Diane, and they brought Lauryn along as well- fatefully. Lauryn ended up sitting next to Ian at dinner, and they talked all night. The next day Ian texted her and asked if she wanted to go on a run, and they've been together ever since. One of their favorite memories was one night about two summers ago, they decided to go on a special date to eat at Uno's and bring the kayaks. Ian thought it would be a great idea to kayak across Deep Creek Lake over to Uno's for dinner. So they decided to just go in one kayak and they had a little speaker strapped to the top blasting Jack Johnson- only since it was just a one person kayak, they were sitting like an inch from the water. But they sailed across and had a nice evening. After dinner, they decided to have a romantic walk back to the truck because they didn't think it would be a good idea to make the voyage back across the lake with no lights on their kayak. So they walked about two and a half miles down a dangerous, winding highway in the dark, then Ian remembered he forgot his truck keys. He had left them back in the kayak! By this time, they were on the other side at the state park, so Ian had to awkwardly ask a park ranger if he could give him a ride back across the lake. He got to ride in the ranger boat, but he felt really stupid about the whole situation. After a long night, he finally made it back and was able to get the truck and kayak. Ian described this as one of the worst possible dates because it went horribly wrong. Looking back, Lauryn describes this as one of their greatest memories together. For the proposal, Ian had been toying with a few different extravagant ideas, but he came to a point where he felt like he just needed to ask Lauryn immediately. So he went over to her house with ring-- in his sweatpants. He saw her mom and said "Diane, I'm about to ask Lauryn to marry me. Do you want to peek out from the basement?" Diane's reaction was "*gasp* oh my gosh, yes!!" So he told Lauryn he had to show her something out by the pond. He chose the pond because Lauryn lives on a little gem in the New Germany State Park and it's beautiful. He distracted her and told her to look at a fish in the water, and when she turned around he was down on one knee. He asked her to marry him, and she said yes! Their wedding was the exact location where Ian proposed. They had a beautiful floral arch set up near the pond and chairs for all of their loved ones. It started to rain pretty hard right before the ceremony started so all of the guests went under the reception tent until it cleared a little. Someone rang this giant bell in the yard to signal to the groomsmen who were across the street that they were ready to start. All of the groomsmen rode down on mo-peds to a Lord of the Rings soundtrack song, and also the groom being the final one down the driveway. Just as the bride's music was starting, the rain started up a little. Lauryn was escorted out of her house by her father Tom holding a clear umbrella above their heads. Her gown was a white, long vintage style dress that had lots of beautiful pearl and bead work on top. The ceremony was officiated by Pastor Lee Capper, who is the longtime pastor of the church Ian's family attends. The reception was held in a large white tent on the property that was filled with round tables, a dance floor, and DJ table. Ian and Lauryn shared a romantic first dance, followed by emotional father/daughter dance and mother/son dance. Giuseppe's catered the event (who else?) and was a smashing success. During dinner, Lauryn's maid of honor and sister, Kate kicked off the speeches. She was followed by Christopher, Ian's best man and cousin. At the end of his speech, he asked Ian's sister (also named Lauryn) to also say a few words. Ian and his sister are best friends, and her speech was emotional and unforgettable. One of the most fun parts of the entire day was all of the dancing at the reception! The DJ could do no wrong in the crowd's eyes- he even mentioned at one point that this was the best reception he had ever played for. Everyone danced the night away! For the last song, their family gathered in a circle holding hands while Ian and Lauryn slow danced in the middle of the circle to What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstong. The night ended in true Ian and Lauryn fashion by the two riding off on their mo-ped. It was a magical day!