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Valerie and Peter


08/01/2020
Muskegon, MI, United States

Peter and I met over four years before our wedding day on June 16, 2016 on the tee box of hole #3 at White Lake Golf Club. I was an avid golfer, I had just finished four years of collegiate golf, and he was a new member at the course. What we didn't know at the time was that we had actually grown up living around the corner from each other our entire lives. It was pretty clear after our initial meeting that we were a perfect match. Many of our first dates were on WLGC and people honestly don't believe it to this day when we tell the story of our meeting.

On February 1, 2019 Peter, who worked out of town pretty regularly at the time, decided to surprise me. First, he surprised me by coming home early and second by dropping down on one knee and asking me to marry him. Well of course I said YES! We quickly picked our date, venue, and vendors, but when COVID hit the US in early 2020 we knew we had to make some adjustments. We eventually determined a more intimate wedding for 75 was necessary and that a backyard reception was the best and safest move. Pete's childhood home on Lake Michigan was the perfect venue for our small reception. It was such a special place for us both and everything turned out so beautiful! Picking out my dress was one of the toughest decisions I made. In fact, I actually bought two gowns. The first was a simple satin A-line gown with a high neckline and when it came in I immediately knew it wasn't me. Luckily I had shopped extremely early for my gown and it actually came in over 10 months before the wedding. I ended up going back to a salon I had visited early in my dress shopping experience, Bianka Bridal in Grand Rapids, with my sister-in-law who's style is to die for and she helped me to find THE DRESS. When I put it on I immediately started crying because I felt so beautiful. I went home slept on it and then went back to the salon with my mother less than a week later and bought my Ti Adora gown. When I took it for alterations I had bought an extra yard of lace and had the original key hole back removed and a sheer back with straight straps done and I was in love with how it turned out. It really felt like it was custom made just for me. Our day was truly magically and the best part was that we were lucky enough to get married in 2020 on our original wedding date.

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