Kelley and William are self-proclaimed “adventure partners forever” since falling in love six years ago. They have traveled the globe and love sharing time together camping, hiking, stargazing, and adventuring. They tied the knot at a beautiful turn of the century farmhouse in Lawrence, Kansas and incorporated bright details into their day – multicolored bridesmaid dresses, yellow, pink, and fuchsia flowers. Kelley wore her grandmother’s wedding ring from 1948 in Italy. Wedding guests arrived by old school bus on the beautiful late summer afternoon, where they gathered outdoors and danced the night away in an old stone barn. M and E Photo Studio is behind the lens.
Proposal Story From the Bride:
Will and I loved to hike at a park near our place in Oakland, CA called Redwood Regional Park. After a somewhat grueling hike on a hot April day we came to a bench with a beautiful view. Unbeknownst to me Will had been carrying my grandma’s ring in his pocket for months after asking for it from my mom over Christmas vacation, just waiting for the right time to propose. When we saw that the bench had people sitting on it, Will seemed strangely disappointed and wanted to wait until they left. So we ate the lunch we brought with us in a nearby tree. The entire time Will had his eye on the bench and when they finally got up and left, he ran to bench very excitedly. I immediately lay down on the bench because I was hot and tired. He was still standing and kind of moving around awkwardly and when I asked him what was up, he asked if I would stand up and look at the view with him. I had no idea what was going on. I thought he was just being weird (which isn’t so unusual) so when he got down on one knee and held out the ring, I was so surprised that I thought it was a joke (he has kind of a twisted sense of humor sometimes so it wasn’t that unlikely) but after asking “seriously?!” a few times, he said “YES seriously, I want you to be my wife!” I knew it wasn’t a joke. After a few tears, kisses and selfies, another couple hiked by and took a photo for us. They were the first to congratulate us. We carved our initials on the bench, K+W, which became the logo for our wedding and the hike we did that day will forever be known to us, our friends and family as “The Proposal Hike.” Best hike ever!
Photographer: M and E Photo Studio / Bakery: Alchemy Coffee & Bakery / Caterer: Fine Thyme Food / Ring Designer: GiftFlavors / Beauty: Meghan Schmitz’s Makeup / Apparel: OxfordCommaShoppe / Event Venue: The Historic Taylor Barn / Submitted via Two Bright Lights