TUSCAN DREAMS OUTSIDE THE CITY BUSTLE | RAVISLOE COUNTRY CLUB | KATIE + BRAY
It’s not every day that I get a call from a groom asking me to come 9 hours to photograph his wedding. And after Bray complementing me and geeking out over gear for a solid hour, I figured why the hay not?! So I loaded up my camper van a few days before and set sail on the open road for Chicago. I had one of the best road trips ever, got to eat deep dish pizza, see the bean, and be surrounded by one of the sweetest couples. So Katie and Bray, thanks for making me cry every time I see a Missouri barn that’s not an ivy covered tuscan villa ;)
“Telling the story of how we met is always interesting, because it is pretty "out there" to people. Bray lived in Kansas City and I lived in Chicago, and through some miraculous timing (thanks, God!) we matched on Bumble. Actually, I (Katie) swiped on him first probably over a month before he did. We found out later that he was in Chicago for a layover -- a ONE HOUR window where we were in the same radius for the online dating app to connect us. So I swiped...and nothing happened. Then, Bray was back in Chicago for a bachelor party. He wasn't intentionally looking on bumble at the time (because duh, he didn't live here), but was just showing his friends bumble and swiping. Well we matched, and our initial profile showed that we had similar values-- namely our faith, and the conversation really took off so effortlessly. Bray already knew he was coming back to Chicago for another trip that summer, and asked if he could take me on a date. Of course I said yes! Between that trip, we already got to begin our relationship Facetiming and talking on the phone. Before our first official date, even though we had already talked multiple times--I was so nervous! Bray claims he wasn't.. The date was so much fun that we planned another impromptu date that weekend, planned more Facetime dates, I planned a trip to visit friends in Kansas City, and so we began! We fell in love quickly--just 4 months after we started dating! I still get butterflies thinking about hearing him tell me that for the first time. 1.5 years later, Bray was finally able to move to Chicago. Now that Bray is living in Chicago, it's so fun to see in passing places from our first couple dates and reminisce on catching feels.”
“Ask for help! We had really incredible family and friends offer to help with what they could--and everyone was so eager to and genuinely wanted to help! Don't be afraid to take people up on it when they offer. Throughout this whole process it has made me feel incredibly grateful and appreciative for how wonderful the people in my life are.” - Katie