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Join us in celebrating a decade of love as we exchange vows on our 10-year anniversary.
Join us in celebrating a decade of love as we exchange vows on our 10-year anniversary.
OUR STORY
OUR STORY
The Beginning of Us
The Beginning of Us
By Brendan
Our story begins at the local Tennis tournament that rolls through Mason every year. The Western and Southern open allows opportunities for high school/college students to make some money doing odd jobs such as running the concession stand, grilling hot dogs, preparing food for the tennis players, or Kayla and I’s favorite, scooping ice cream for eight hours. After a long grueling day of scooping ice cream for wealthy attendees, I decided to end my shift by sitting behind the concession stand and talking to a few of the other volunteers that worked with me that day. Among that group of people was someone that stood out way above the rest. A girl that looked as frustrated as I was after almost losing an arm scooping ice cream for $8 an hour. My mind must have been blocked by how beautiful she was because after speaking with her for thirty minutes or so, I forgot to ask for her name! I had let her borrow my favorite bomber jacket because she looked cold. We shared laughs and talked about how much we hated working at the concession stand all weekend. When we parted ways for the night, I would have been sad to realize that we would not end up talking to each other until the next tournament comes around to Mason, Ohio. By the time I got home I quickly texted my close friend Steven as I knew he might know who this girl was (both her and Steven’s cousin were friends). I described her to Steven and after a couple minutes he replied “That’s got to be Kayla! She is already taken though, by some weird guy”. I wasn’t one to disrupt a relationship, even if it is with some “weird” guy that clearly doesn’t deserve her.
Flash forward to the end of Summer the following year. I received a call from Sharon (Steven’s aunt that runs the scheduling of volunteers for the Western and Southern Open). She asked if I would like to sign up again to work at this year’s tennis tournament. I agreed, under the condition that I could possibly pick the place I would like to work. Some jobs were way better than others. This particular request also allowed me to slip an important request into Aunt Sharon. “You don’t happen to know if Kayla Tucker is working this year, do you?” Aunt Sharon paused and replied, “Oh yes, she is! She is signed up to work one of the grills!” I immediately knew where I wanted to volunteer. I arrive to the tennis tournament hoping I get to work alongside Kayla. We met for the start of our shift and to my surprise, she remembered me from the previous volunteering. I decided to show her the proper ways to grill hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. Kayla will tell you to this day that she pretended to be amazed at my grilling skills, despite her already knowing all there is to know about grilling food. Kayla mentioned that she had just got accepted into the University of Cincinnati DAAP program which begins next month. I informed her that I had been a student at UC and could help show her around the campus (in case she was lost of course…)
We end up going on multiple dates and meet up on campus as many times as possible and even play in the same fantasy football league. Nine years later, and we are planning our wedding and reminiscing about how lucky we were to volunteer at the tennis tournament and pick up right where we left off.
The Proposal
The Proposal
Kayla's point of view:
It was our late seven year anniversary trip to Chicago for the annual Open House Chicago Festival. I had gone to this event when I was in college and couldn't wait to go back. We started our day off at the Starbucks reserve and proceeded to walk through every building in sight. Brendan thought it was a good idea that we dress up since we would be visiting fancy buildings all day. I didn't argue since he had me pack something nice for dinner anyway. Brendan seemed pretty normal the whole day other than many long restroom breaks throughout the day and at one point he wore his backpack on backwards against his chest. I thought it was odd but I was quite distracted by the city atmosphere. The plan was to visit as many buildings as we could before we were to meet up for drinks with Brendan's dad's best friend, Ward Tage, who lives in Chicago. Brendan mentioned that Ward wanted to take pictures of the river walk while we were there, since he is a photographer. Brenden seemed a bit anxious once we met up with Ward and Ivy, Ward's girlfriend. He asked a million questions a minute but again, I didn't think much of it. I was in awe of the beautiful view of the skyscrapers and bridges. As we came to a bump out in the river walk, Ward asked Brendan and I to take a picture of him and Ivy with his camera. There were a lot of buttons and it was a heavy camera. We managed to take some sort of picture by finally hitting the right button. I asked Ward to take a look so we could retake it if he wanted. He didn't seem to care about the picture. He just offered to take a picture of Brendan and I. Brendan and I posed for the picture like normal. Then, Ward says, "Do you guys want to do a different pose now?" In response, Brendan grabs both of my hands in his. We take a weird picture of us just holding hands. Once we took that picture, Brendan just looks at me, smiles and says only one word, "Bae". I think it was this moment that I realized what was happening. I wish I could say I knew what he said after that, but all I know is my best friend offered me forever and I accepted with everything I had.
Then I cried and cried and cried.... Happy tears, of course.
The Proposal
The Proposal
Brendan's point of view:
Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to carry a diamond ring in a string bag while walking around Downtown Chicago for 8 hours? I don’t recommend it. It was Architecture week in Chicago. The best time to schedule a quick weekend vacation and tour all the buildings downtown that are not typically open to the public. Plenty of opportunities to finally propose to the girl I have loved for the past nine years. As we started to get ready for an all-day excursion, I had to come up with a way to get the both of us to slightly dress up for what was going to be a proposal photo shoot. She definitely knew something was a little strange at this point. If you know me, then you know I am the last one to recommend dressing up. At one point on the day of, I would demand that we stop at a local Walgreens so I could get a lint roller for my shirt. I think I made up a poor excuse that sounded like “I don’t want people seeing my messy shirt when we go tour an old building.” I know, horrible excuse. I put the ring in my string bag, and we hit the streets of Chicago. Our closest family friend Ward was to meet us at the riverwalk right before dinnertime where he would take photos of the much-anticipated moment. Kayla is pointing out architectural wonders while I continuously put my hand in my bag to make sure someone didn’t happen to steal it from my back. I had used the phrase “I just don’t trust anyone not trying to steal my backpack” over ten times since Kayla would ask “why are you wearing your string bag on your front and not on your back?” I also must have taken twenty “bathroom breaks” so that I could coordinate with Ward exactly where we were going to meet up. The moment had arrived. We were five minutes away from meeting up with Ward. We get into position and Ward tells us to pose for a few pictures. I get on one knee and the rest is history!
Just a picture on the River Walk
Just a picture on the River Walk
All he had to say was "Bae"...
All he had to say was "Bae"...
Neither of us know what was said.
Neither of us know what was said.
Thanks to Ward Tage for the unbelievable photos.
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