One month after they started “dating,” they went on their first real date. Matt took Jess to dinner at Cabo’s – a Mexican/Burger restaurant with surf boards hanging from the ceiling. Matt’s friends warned him that it wasn’t really a perfect date kinda place, but Jess loved it. After dinner, they went for a nice walk in Tom Brown park and then saw a movie…
…Fast forward a year and a half, a move to Pensacola for Jess and to Camp Weona outside Buffalo for Matt…
THE PROPOSAL:
Matt flew down to Jessica’s house in Pensacola. Even though it was a cold and drizzling Saturday, Matt was insistent that they go to the beach. They got in the car, and Matt put in a CD that he made of awesomely cheesy love songs. They got to the beach and set up their portable hammock under the pier. After watching the waves for awhile, they decided it was time for lunch. They walked over the surf burger…and had a normal but delicious meal. Then they drive back home…and Jessica was thinking she got her hopes up for nothing...
After they got home, Matt decided they should make some hot chocolate. Then he told her that he brought a movie with him to watch. He went and got Prince Caspian out of his bag. He told Jess that she should go put the movie in. She walked over to the TV and opened the case. Inside was the ring. Matt got down on one knee and asked Jessica to marry him. She said YES!
PW's Real Brides - Jessica
Aislinn Kate Photography
Trellis Design by
Bruce Gluszek
Jessica and Matt first met teaching Sunday School together at Crossbridge Church in Tallahassee, FL. Although they both remember having fun teaching together, they were just church acquaintances for a few months. Later that spring, Jessica was planning her trip to Ecuador to work with special needs children at a school and clinic. She asked the church for medical supplies and toys that she could bring to the kids. Matt told her that he had lots of medical supplies at his camp. They exchanged numbers and Matt said that he would give her a call. Jess still has her sneaking suspicions that he had some ulterior motives…but Matt denies them…
Aislinn Kate Photography
Matt, true to his word, called Jess the next day. At that time Jess was about an hour outside Tallahassee doing her rural clinical rotation. They ended up talking for almost an hour that night…and again the next night. Later in the week, Jess had to “drop some stuff back in Tallahassee,” conveniently the same day that Matt had talked about going to a movie with his friends, Brian and Lisa. Jess waited a little too long to call and tell him she was coming…and later learned that they were all pretty close to going to sleep. Matt convinced Brain to come along anyways, and the three of them watched “Prince Caspian.” Matt remembers going home a very happy man that night because he got a big hug goodnight.
Pretty soon after the movie night, Jess left for Ecuador. She remembers Matt’s wake-up call at 4:30 am before her flight, just to make sure she didn’t sleep through her alarm. Matt and Jessica kept in touch through e-mail for the first week of her 2 month trip in Ecuador. Then Matt went and bought a Skype microphone so they could keep in closer contact. Jessica, being a single girl traveling alone, soon realized that it was much easier to tell the Ecuadorian boys that she had a “novio,” or boyfriend. One night when Matt and Jess were talking, Jess got lost in the translation and accidently called Matt her boyfriend. Matt just laughed and said that he was going to wait until they were in the same country to ask her out.
Aislinn Kate Photography
Aislinn Kate Photography
Aislinn Kate Photography**
Aislinn Kate Photography
Aislinn Kate Photography
Aislinn Kate Photography
Event Coordinator and Designer, Bruce Gluszek*: Bruce was awesome! He definitely made our wedding the something special that we wanted. When I talked to him the first time, I think I told him something along the lines of I like really bright colors and my fiance thinks it would be really cool if we had some beta fish on the tables. Further down the line he asked me what kind of flowers we wanted, and my answer to that was "bright, colorful, pretty flowers." Somehow Bruce was able to tease out the crazy ideas in our heads and design a beautiful wedding that was 100% Jessica and Matt.
Ceremony: We had our ceremony at Plaza de Luna. Although we met at church, we both knew that we wanted to get married outside. We both love spending time outside at parks or in in the water. The beach didn't feel quite right to us, and most other parks didn't show off the beautiful Pensacola bay. Plaza de Luna was the perfect combination. We were very lucky with beautiful blue skies and sunshine on our special day.
Reception: When we first looked at Palafox Wharf, we were immediately drawn to the unique character of the building. And our reception was better than we imagined! It was great to have a real bar for guests, a nice spot outside of the deck to hang out, the kids (and kids at heart) had fun looking at the fish and pelicans on the dock, and everyone enjoyed dancing on the dancefloor. It felt like the perfect size - enough room for everyone to fit comfortably, but small enough that tables socialized with each other. And Sandy was very nice and helpful with everything!
*Contact Bruce Gluszek at 850.637.6228 or Millhousepens@aol.com
**Contact Aislinn Kate Photography at aislinnkate.com
Aislinn Kate Photography
Florals Designed by Bruce Gluszek
Aislinn Kate Photography
Aislinn Kate Photography
Aislinn Kate Photography
Cake by Bread of Life Bakery
