Jaidyn & Robbi's Downtown Concord NH Engagement Session

Do you remember your first date? Sweaty palms, butterflies in your stomach, eager anticipation of what could be. All of the minute details that are no doubt cemented in your memory. Imagine you bring those places and activities into your engagement session. That’s exactly what Jaidyn & Robbi did.

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Ruthie and Jonah's Elegant NH Farmstead Wedding

A subtle breeze began to blow and the sound of thunderous cheers filled the air, as Jonah & Ruthie briskly marched down the aisle excitedly waving to friends and family. For the first time, they had just been announced: Mr. & Mrs. Jonah Bult! After being able to celebrate their destination proposal in Camden, ME and their snowy engagement session with them, let’s just say we had a lot of excited anticipation for this day!

 

Jonah & Ruthie greeted their new siblings-in-law with big “welcome to the family” bear hugs and “I love you’s.” In this case, I feel it’s more appropriate to call them siblings-in-love. You see, all siblings have their moments of disagreement and drama. But both the Bult and Rogers families have seemed to accomplish something I envy for my kids as they grow. As adults, these mature, kind, giving siblings and their parents LOVE just being together. I know, it sounds simple, but it's true! I don’t know how else to describe it. They are legitimately best friends and spend as much time as possible together! The moment of immediate, “I love you’s” and “I’m so glad I can finally call you my sibling,” was a perfect example of the closeness these families share.

 

Another one of my favorite moments from the day came as Ruthie’s dad opened the reception. He said when he moved to NH as a teenager, the first person he met was Jonah’s uncle, Kevin Bult. Kevin & Darren (Jonah’s dad) became two of his best friends in the next few years. In God’s sovereignty, He managed to bring these two families together! The icing on the cake was that Kevin even officiated the wedding!

 

The biggest thing I gathered from my time with Jonah & Ruthie was how they make other people better. Ruthie poures into her sisters and loved ones, so much so that she even had the opportunity to lead her sister, Cathryn, to Christ! Her youngest sister, Phoebe, even went as far as to ask Jonah & Ruthie to adopt her. As a child, Jonah was a daredevil, never afraid to shy away from a challenge. Even challenges that left him bruised, bloodied, or in one specific case unconscious. (You’ll have to ask his brother Noah for that story!) And that drive to be the best at everything propelled both of his brothers to strive for excellence! Nothing like some a little brotherly competition, right?

Having a first look with her dad was such a sweet moment for this daddy’s girl of a bride.

Ruthie and her girls had a relaxing morning at home getting ready, drinking coffee and laughing together. They surprised her with a scrapbook of memories and handwritten notes from each of them! And then there’s the moment when they saw her in her wedding dress. Scroll a little farther to see their reactions!

One of Ruthie’s bridesmaids got held up with canceled flights! They were both so disappointed. But part way through the ceremony, she surprised everyone by walking right down to her spot! She made it! It was such a sweet moment for Ruthie, so we made sure to do more bridesmaid photos with everyone after the ceremony even though we had already done most of them before.

The last thing I want to say is this, Jonah’s parents were my first youth leaders when in 7th grade. I remember how intimidating it was to be a small fish in a big pond, but Kim & Darren made me feel at home right away. Now as adults, they have continued to make me (and my wife and kids now!) feel welcome as they surround us with love, support and much needed community.

 

Jonah and Ruthie make a perfect team! In fact, they remind me a lot of their parents. Who knows, maybe one day my kids will get to have them as their first youth leaders!!

Thanks to all these incredible vendors!

Wedding Planner: Aisle Runners

Invitations: Magnet Street

Florist: Jolene Lampman of New England Nesters

Photographer: Tommy Montgomery Photo

Second Shooter: Madison Rae Photography

Hair Artist: Lindsey Willett

Bride’s Dress: David’s Bridal

Groom’s Attire: The Black Tux

Rentals: Special Events of New England

Venue: Private Farm

Reception: Reformation Bible Church

Ellie and Trevor's Timber Hill Farm Wedding

The sky said goodnight with a color story of lavender, blush & tangerine as the scent of dinner and the sound of laughter drifted off into the cool evening breeze. The setting was the breathtaking Timber Hill Farm in Gilford, NH. Majestic Mountains and Lake Winnipesaukee painted the sky behind the barn, but it felt like just another family game night for the Debelak and Chappell families. It was as if they were sitting around the living room sharing stories of how God brought Ellie & Trevor together.

The story of how an enthusiastic boy who would charge full speed ahead with little thought of the consequences became a meek man whose faithfulness to his friends and family came second only to his faithfulness to prayer and God’s Word.

The story of a little girl, the pride and joy of her parents, who would flourish into a young woman with heart to heal and a deep love of quality family time.

The story of how their dedication to their Savior would bring them together for a providential meeting in Illinois.

I couldn’t say it any better than the father of the bride, it was “a great day to have a good day.” Ellie & Trevor, along with their family and friends, handled the stress and details of the day with grace and kindness. And they were served by some of the most incredible wedding professionals around.

The feathers on the boutonnières were a special addition that the groomsmen added from their bachelor hunting trip.

These personalized, wooden napkin holders were a gift to each guest!

Oh, and they left on this tractor. It was the perfect personal touch since Ellie’s dad owns Chappell Tractor & Trevor is a sales rep there.

The sunsets at Timber Hill Farm are unrivaled!

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Debelak! We are praying for many, many joy-filled years of marriage for you!

Kaelyn & Tommy | Our Story Part 2: Dating & Engagement

The summer after our freshman year, we spent apart. I was a counselor at the Wilds of New England and Kaelyn was going to work at Camp Chetek in Wisconsin. After having some health issues, she ended up going home, but we still didn’t get to see each other that summer. We Facetimed and talked on the phone as often as we could, fanning the flame. 

Top Photo: 2012 MBU Graduation our freshman year (her choir sang, my sister graduated)

Middle Photos: Summer 2012 as a counselor at The Wilds of New England

Bottom Photo: Summer 2012 Kaelyn with her sister, while home for the summer

 

When we got back to school in the Fall, I wanted to ask her to officially be my girlfriend. Before I could do that, I needed to talk with her dad. I know, normal people only ask a dad for permission to marry his daughter, but it was a thing then, trust me. As much as I wanted to ask him in person, I couldn’t figure out how to talk to him alone without her getting suspicious. Somehow, I was able to get his number and called him. I think the call lasted 2 minutes. He was way too easy on me. (Asking him to marry her may have only been 3 minutes, no dowry convo or anything.)

When it came time to ask her to be my girlfriend, I wanted to include some of her favorite things. I knew she loved jewelry, so I bought her a necklace & bracelet to give her right before I asked her, as well as a picture frame for her to put the picture we would take that night. At MBU, we couldn’t go off campus alone for a date, so we got good at double dating. Our friends, Brittany & Aaron, were one of our favorite couples to double date with, so they were the natural choice to join us that night. 

It was the 15th of September, a perfect clean-cut, easy to remember date, which is exactly why I chose it. We drove up to Milwaukee and hung out by a river walk near the Milwaukee Art Museum. Then, Brittany & Aaron fell back as we went for a walk. There was this cool bridge that I had scouted out as a good place to ask her. When we got to the top of the bridge, I gave her the gift and asked her to be my girlfriend. Once again, she said yes and my heart exploded! How could I be so lucky!?

One of the things I learned about Kaelyn is that she loves surprises. Another thing that I learned, is that she is blissfully unaware when I’m trying to surprise her. It’s a pretty convenient combination if you ask me. 

It was the summer of 2014. She had joined me in New Hampshire so we could both work at The Wilds of New England. We had a great summer, although we didn’t see each other a lot during the week. She was a counselor and I was the videographer, so our schedules were pretty different. We had been ring shopping together before, so she was hoping that I would propose sometime during the summer. Honestly, I got the ring before she came for camp. I wanted to ask her right away so she wouldn’t have as much time to figure it out, but God had other plans. Some other events in our family made it necessary for me to wait a bit. 

I spy a little extra sparkle in one of the photos above. Can you find it?

Kaelyn is so sweet. She did her best to be patient and never complained to me. I did hear afterwards that the morning of the day I proposed, she was talking to one of her friends about how she was struggling to be patient because she really wanted to be engaged. Her friend teased her the next week that it must’ve been super hard to wait a few hours. 

We were busy on the campsite during the week, but did have the weekend off to spend together. That didn’t give me any time to scout out a location in person without her. I had been to the public docks in Meredith, NH along Lake Winnipesaukee and thought it would be a perfect spot. I did as much google maps stalking as I could and then had my parents Facetime me from the spot during the week as a virtual stake out. 

I had decided I didn’t want to tell Kaelyn I loved her until we got engaged. I wanted to be certain that I was going to marry her and she wanted to marry me before I said it. There was no Biblical reason or anything. I’m just weird. Looking back, it wouldn’t have been a big deal to tell her earlier. I just wasn’t sure when the right time would be. 

Anyways, she knew I wasn’t going to tell her until we got engaged so once I said I love you, I knew she’d be greasing up her ring finger. In order to give her the biggest surprise, I had written the words I love you on the bottom of three rubber ducky animals (one was a giraffe since that’s her favorite animal) and put them in a pail of water. My parents were able to get up there earlier and put the pail by a bench facing the lake. They also hid the ring box in a bag under the bench and stayed close to keep an eye on it. (They were the real MVPs!) They hid it for me on site, becuase I didn’t think I would be able to hide the ring box in my pocket without her noticing. Surprising her was the goal.

At the beginning of the summer, Kaelyn and I had talked about going on a few intentional dates. This was 1) something I knew we would both love and 2) an excuse to encourage her to dress up a tiny bit without coming out and telling her what we were doing. In previous conversations about getting engaged, she had told me that if at all posible she wanted some kind of heads up so she wasn’t dressed like a vagabond. Well, she didn’t use those exact words, but I digress.

It was July 12th, and we were up at my family’s campsite in Alton Bay. They all made excuses to go off and do different things. Of course, I understood that they were heading out to set up and get hidden. I asked Kaelyn if she’d like to go on a special date like we had talked about. She perked right up but remained totally oblivious to my plans. (insert evil laugh) I went and changed into an outfit I had bought special for the occasion- a blue & red gingham button down shirt and white shorts. I thought if I dressed up a bit, that would be another subtle hint for her to do the same. She took the hint and changed into a pair of jeans and a nice gray tank with an elephant on it. I’ll never forget it. She looked adorable, per usual.

We had a great time chatting as we drove along the lake. When we pulled into the parking lot at the docks, she was all giddy. My girl loves her some quality time. So she talked my ear off about all the things as we walked closer to the bench by the water. Still, totally oblivious. In contrast, my game face was on as I scanned the path for our spot. My parents & brother had everything set and were hiding nearby to get a video. Our sweet friend, Emma, was also hiding nearby to take some photos for us. 

We passed the bench to give Kaelyn the chance to finish her thought before I blew her mind. This made my parents panic for a minute, but it was fine. It was all under control. After circling back, we sat down on the bench looking out at the lake. It was the perfect day and she was the perfect girl.

I told her I had written her a little song that I wanted to sing for her. After doing so, I fished out the three little duckies and handed them to her. Before she read the message I wrote under them, I asked her to close her eyes. While her eyes were closed, I grabbed the ring and got down on one knee. When she opened her eyes, she read the words, I love you written on the bottom sides of the duckies. Then, I told her how much I loved her and asked her to marry me. She said yes!! We could hardly contain our excitement! She cried and I beamed! What an amazing memory!

Unlike a typical proposal, we actually didn’t kiss after we got engaged. Not because we didn’t want to or even that we hadn’t before. Earlier that summer, Kaelyn came down with mono. Our camp director teased us that if I got it, too, everyone would know we hadn’t been behaving ourselves. So, we waited until she was no longer contagious. Don’t worry, we made up for it when the time was right. Sorry, mom! 

After I popped the question, we took a moment to thank God for bringing us together, which was the signal to Emma that she could come out of hiding and take a couple more photos for us! Those photos are so full of the joy we felt in that exact moment! There were so many exciting moments to look forward to now as a couple! My parents and brother also came out of hiding to congratulate us.

Across the street there is a gorgeous little waterfall where we took a couple more photos before saying bye to everyone else. There was also a quaint restaurant where we could eat outside while listening to the gentle roar of the waterfall. So that’s exactly what we did. It was so fun to be alone reflecting on all the details of the day and the events leading up to it. A sweet couple next to us overheard that we just got engaged and even paid for our dinner! What a blessing! After we finished eating, we headed back to the dock to call Kaelyn’s family and let them in on our news. Finally, we leisurely strolled along the lake for a while, filling the air with the sounds of our gleeful laughter. 

Top 3 photos by Emma Catherine Photography