We Made It

by Laura Vietmeyer

 

Matt is from Wisconsin, and Sarah is from Virginia. After meeting at Marquette University, the relationship weathered summers apart, a two-year long distance relationship after college, and a proposal that didn’t go exactly as Matt had planned. Through it all, the couple bound their lives together and were wed before 122 guests at the Church of the Gesu, located on the campus where they first became a couple. 

 

Sarah and Matt met at Marquette on her very first day of class. She was shadowing one of the weekly radio shows and was brought on the air, which meant that their first conversation was on Marquette Radio. After a year as friends and classmates, they began dating.

In the beginning, they had to spend summers apart, but that didn’t stop them from realizing that they would be married one day. “I was pretty sure he was ‘The One’ within a few weeks of dating, but I knew for sure around two and a half years in. We took a trip to San Francisco and had a blast. After that, we knew we were going to get married,” Sarah says.

Matt adds, “I knew pretty early on that Sarah was the one. She wasn’t like any other girl I’d ever met. I knew right away we would be together a long time, and it wasn't long after that I figured out she was the woman I was going to marry.”

After college, Sarah moved to New York City for work. Matt had been thinking of different ways to propose throughout the relationship, but he was waiting until he knew where they would be after college. Knowing that they would be settling in New York, he researched places to propose and even hired a photographer to capture the moment. Things didn’t go as planned, however.

“I was going to tell her I was going to be running late at the airport and for her to meet me at brunch in Long Island City, which is just east of Manhattan. I would get there early, talk to the photographer I hired, and then the surprise would happen. It seemed simple enough,” Matt says. “But on my flight from Milwaukee, I saw a friend from high school. We both had some time to kill before getting to where we needed to go, so we decided to get breakfast at the LaGuardia. Sarah decided to surprise me at the airport, though, and it was pretty obvious I'd been lying to her, so she naturally got upset.”

Matt quickly came up with an alternate plan. He recruited his friend and two guys who were eating breakfast at the table next to them, and they went to find Sarah. “I told her, ‘I hope you know you ruined everything,’ and went on to propose to her at LaGuardia Airport,” Matt says.

The couple started calling family and friends from the airport to share the good news. They tried to tell as many people in person or over the phone as they could before posting a photo on Facebook a month later. Then it was time to start planning. Photography was most important to the couple in the planning process. “We knew we wanted to have the day documented so we could look back at the wedding. We’re so excited to hang the pictures up in our new apartment,” Sarah says.

Sarah found her dress unexpectedly. “I went to a store in New York with my mom, just to try on dresses for fun, and ended up finding my dress!” She had a veil made by a friend, some comfortable nude heels, pearls, and her mom’s diamond earrings.

When Sarah walked down the aisle, Matt through to himself, “Wow, this is finally happening.” He further explains, “We spent a lot of our relationship apart, in different cities, different parts of the country. I kept telling Sarah we needed to be patient and we’d finally be together. We were in the same city prior to the wedding, but it clicked when I saw her that day. We made it.”

Through the whole experience, Matt says the people who attended the wedding were the most important part of the day. “We were able to get so many people that are close to us there, and it meant the world to me to share our special day with them.”

“Seeing everyone there at the church and the reception, was a little overwhelming, in a good way,” Sarah adds.

Looking back on the wedding day and planning process, Sarah recommends that brides keep at least one save the date, invitation and program. She also offers the following advice: “Don’t listen to other people about what would make a fun/great/cool wedding. Choose what you and your husband enjoy and let your personality shine through.”