Local Love: Frank and Melissa

September 5, 2021

THEIR LOVE STORY

We met in college through a mutual friend. The night after we met, I told my friend how cute Frank was. From there, we continued to see each other at different events. Frank made the first move with a "Happy Easter" text which opened the door for more texting conversations. Our first date was at a local restaurant that served food in dog bowls. From there, we continued to go on fun adventures together: breakfast dates, shopping, and bonfires, just to name a few. As our love continued to grow and we both had graduated college, we moved in together. From there we faced all kinds of challenges. From puppy training, to a broken-wrist with surgery, and a global pandemic. Pre-Pandemic, Frank had planned a proposal during the first night of our vacation in the Bahamas. Unfortunately, we decided to postpone that trip due to the uncertainty of traveling during the pandemic. At that point, Frank was at a loss of how to propose, so he decided to carry the ring with him, just about everywhere he went and decided to officially pop the question at a COVID-safe getaway in North Carolina. We still have that Bahamas trip planned but this time it's our Honeymoon!

1 of 4

2 of 4

3 of 4

4 of 4

THEIR INSPIRATION

The inspiration behind our special day was to make it feel like 'us.' Most parts of our wedding were unique to us and things we had never seen done before (other than by people on the internet) from a guestbook that allowed us to receive voicemails we can listen to endlessly, to a live painter creating art to hang in our home, to having a simple ice cream date (our final one before we were officially married)—every last piece of our wedding day perfectly embodied who we are as a couple, both together and separate. Even our music resembled a lifetime of happiness, Frank walked down the aisle to a song we often sing together in the car ("fast car" by Jonas Blue), Melissa walked down the aisle to "Bubbly' by Colbie Callait (my dad and I used to sing this together and I would ask him to "count me in" just like the artist asks in the song and he would count "1...2...3" before the lyrics start. I asked him to count me in before we walked down the aisle too), and we had our first dance to a song we decided would be our first dance song in our first year of dating—"May I have this dance" by Francis and the Lights.

THEIR FAVORITE PART

It's a tie between our pre-wedding ice cream date and looking at each other at dinner saying, "I feel good about the amount of time we've spent together today." Wedding advice from others tends to revolve around how quickly the day goes by and to make the most of it, but we can truly say we had a blast celebrating our wedding together just by making sure we worked in scheduled time to spend as one unit.

1 of 2

2 of 2

THEIR ADVICE

Melissa's mom told her this and we now pass it on to each couple we know who are getting married - stick together on your wedding day. Don't go your separate ways to talk to different guests or take part in different activities at different times, instead, stay side-by-side the entire night, so your core memories involve your new spouse and you get to create wedding day memories to share for a lifetime.