Wedding Ceremony: Old Bethel United Methodist Church
Reception: Community Life Center
DJ & Photo Booth: Rockin Times DJ
Cupcakes/Cake: Gigi's Cupcakes
Limo: Advanced Limosines
Florist: Flowerama
Catering: Sahms Catering
Videography: Brian Sergi at Sergi Productions
Pastor: Rev Jerry Rairdon
Wedding Photography by Kristin and Lori Thetford with Kristin Hornberger Photography
There so many great photos from their beautiful wedding, but below are a few my favorites from Katie and Mike's wedding and a little more about their love story . . .
Mike and Katie met on match.com
and their first date was at the RAM restaurant for dinner. Katie knew
that she had found “the one” she wanted to spend the rest of her life with when
Mike stayed with her time after time when she was going to job interviews and
hearing no. Katie says, “I was not a happy person for a while, but he
stayed with me and told me it would be ok.” One of their favorite
date nights was when Mike took Katie to Oceanaire restaurant downtown for her
birthday, and surprised Katie with a carriage ride after. They like to go out
to dinner a lot, go to movies, and every summer they make a trip to Cedar Point
to ride roller coasters.
The wedding proposal
happened on Dec 10, 2011. Katie was almost at the end of her first
semester in grad school and Mike told Katie he was taking her on a carriage
ride downtown to see the Christmas lights and to celebrate the semester
being done. Katie had been asking him for two years to take a
carriage ride with her to see all the lights downtown and around the
circle, so Katie thought "Finally!"
They went on a carriage ride, and when they came to the north part of
the downtown circle, they got out and walked up a few steps. The driver
took a few pictures of them, and said 'We need to hurry to get back.' Mike then said "Ok, just one more"
and then got down on one knee and asked Katie to marry him. Katie started
crying and said yes. He stood up and hugged her. While they were hugging, Katie
heard her mom scream "did she say yes?" Katie looked across the street and his and her
family were all there running towards them ready to join in the celebration.
They then all went to Scotty's Brew House and had dinner. Mike likes to say he remembers
that night because it was the night IU beat Kentucky.
They began planning
the wedding shortly after. They chose
the wedding location (church) because Mike’s mom has been going there forever
and the reception location at Community Life Center because it was beautiful
and Katie fell in love with it when she saw it. Katie’s favorite part of the
wedding planning was adding all the small details and incorporating them into
their wedding day so that their wedding was full of very personal touches.
A few of the favorites for Katie were the table numbers with their pictures,
their picture slide show, the creative program, etc. She also loved picking out their wedding
invitation.
Now that they are enjoying
married life and reflecting on the day, some of Katie’s favorite memories of
the wedding day were: walking down the aisle, sitting on the alter and watching
everyone have communion during the ceremony because it gave Katie a chance to
look around, take it all in and see who all was there. Katie also really liked
when Mike and she smashed the cake in each other’s face. Katie said, “I absolutely
loved everything from getting ready with my mom and girls, picture taking, the limo
ride with the whole wedding party, the food, caterers tuxedo t-shirts,
dances, photo booth, . . . there honestly wasn't anything I didn't like.”
One of my favorite
moments of their wedding day was Katie and Mike’s first dance. Mike’s mom mentioned to me that they had taken
dance lessons and I asked Katie about the lessons. Katie shared, “I have had a walking
disability from day 1. I started walking with crutches after a major back
surgery I had when I was about 11 years old. I have always wanted to
dance, but knew I never could. I told mike that if I were to ever walk normal
again, I wanted to take dance lessons. After we got engaged I told mike I
wanted to try dance lessons. We started lessons around October. We went in and
I explained that I wanted to do more than just stand in one place and sway back
and forth. The girl who worked with us was amazing and so nice. She really
listened to what we wanted and worked with us to adapt steps to my ability.”
I was absolutely blown
away by Katie’s strength and all she did to make her wedding day so
special. She only sat down a few times
the whole day and was constantly doing it all and being such a trooper with our
pictures. She was completely game for
all of our pictures and even held herself with her cleavage at one point! Talk about dedication for great
pictures!! Hee hee. Katie revealed, “There were plenty of tough
moments and physically, my legs and ankles starting hurting. I did try to sit
down when I could, but I did get very tired being on them all day. During my
dance with Mike, my legs were feeling like jell-o and I guess I got nervous
because I got hot and shaky all over. I get emotional now thinking about it, I
think, because a friend sent me a video of it, and I look shaky and
unstable. My facial expressions are
terrible, mostly because I was feeling like my legs were about to collapse
under me. As I watch it now, and see some pictures it makes me really realize
that I am disabled, and will always look awkward.” And to that, I say, Katie, you looked
absolutely amazing and you blew me away with all you did! You and Mike seemed like you had been dancing
for years together and he definitely led you across every inch of the dance
floor. You have so much strength and
couldn’t be any more sweet and so fun! Katie
also said that one of the emotionally tough times for her was with her dad not being
there, as he passed away a few years ago.
Katie disclosed, “It didn't really make me emotional walking down the
aisle. It hit me like a ton of bricks when I was sitting on the dance floor
when my step dad was talking, giving an amazing speech and saying how proud my
dad would be of me.” All the while, her dad’s
five brothers, Katie’s uncles, were all standing in a line waiting for their dance
with her. It was very special that they all and extremely emotional seeing the
interactions and special bonds between Katie and all of her uncles. Katie reflected, “The dances with all of my
uncles were very special. I got a chance to talk with each of them for a
little bit while dancing and another moment that made it fun, was when my uncle
bob told me he was going to pick me up and spin me around.”
When I asked Katie
what she looked forward to most now that they were newlyweds, Katie said “Now
that I am married, I love saying ‘my husband.’ On our honeymoon I ended up
calling Mike "husby.” It's a mix
between hubby and husband, and it has stuck. Mike likes it and he calls me his
"wifey,” which I like it too.” They
love and have enjoyed their newlywed status and had a blast on their
honeymoon. But they were glad to be home
so they could start their lives together and are just looking forward to their
future.
Mike and his groomsmen were great sports bearing the cold and snow! They were such a blast!!
The awesome Tiffany and Matt! I absolutely loved photographing their wedding three years ago and it was so great to get to catch up! It was at their wedding that I got to meet Mike and Katie for the first time when Mike was Matt's best man. So fun!!!
Katie danced with each of her uncles and it was one of my favorite moments of the day! It was so touching and showed how her dad's brothers loved her. So emotional.
Congratulations again, Mr. and Mrs. Crist!!! Thank you again for letting me be a part of your wedding day photos! I had a blast and couldn't be happier for you. If you would like to view Katie and Mike's wedding pictures, click on this link:
http://kristinhornberger.smugmug.com/event/Katie-Mike-Married
I hope you had so much fun! Thanks again and enjoy married life. XXOO, Kristin
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