Kelly & Bryan, 05/30/2015- Lucky in Love
Finding Hardy Farm:
We live just outside of Boston. Bryan is a Senior Financial Analyst and I’m a Recruting Manager.
We always knew we wanted to get married in Maine – it has a special place in our hearts. Once we got engaged, I started looking up rustic barn venues in Maine which led me to a blog where a bride had visited about 12 sites in Maine with similar criteria. She rated and reviewed each one, revealing her choice at the end, which was Hardy Farm. I was sold! When Bryan and I visited in person, we fell in love and immediately booked it.
Our experience on the farm for our wedding weekend was magical. Being able to arrive Thursday and set up to our standards/comfort level was amazing. We made every single detail that went into this, very DIY! Bryan and I had a vision where everywhere you looked, you saw us. We replaced pictures on the wall with pictures of us or pictures that represented our wedding style. We loved sharing the property with our closest friends and family. We did a big Rehearsal BBQ on Friday night at the Lodge. On our wedding day, the groom/groomsman got ready at the Lodge. The bride/bridesmaids got ready in the apartment and the wedding suite. The weather was 84 degrees and perfect. We had our first look in the barn and then pictures with our party on the property and a nearby farm. Our ceremony was in the garden, the cocktail hour was in the barn, the dinner was in the tent and the cake cutting/dancing was back in the barn. It was really all perfect!!
The Story of Meeting:
We met on 12/12/12… it feels like fate… and it probably was. We lived only a mile apart and both regularly went to the bars and restaurants around Davis Square but we never bumped into each other. It took a web browser and a targeted shot from OKCupid to bring us together.
Our first date was at PJ Ryan’s in Davis Square, halfway between Bryan’s house and Kelly’s house. It was raining and chilly that night. Kelly walked into the bar, put her hood down and looked around. There was Bryan waiting in the corner. We looked at each other and smiled. We ending up talking for hours and had endless amounts in common. At the end of the night, it was pouring rain. We stood outside under the awning and Kelly decided to give Bryan her umbrella since she had a hood. We both knew a second date was in our near future…
It sure was! Our second, third and fourth dates happened over the next week and a half at the Museum of Fine Arts, skating on Frog Pond and of course dinner & a movie. By the time New Year’s Eve rolled around, we knew we were falling in love…. From that night on, we’ve never looked back!
The Proposal:
THE STORY OF OUR ENGAGEMENT IS REALLY THE TALE OF TWO PROPOSALS…
We’ve known since the very beginning that we were going to end up together. We often talked about building our life together and how excited we were to go down the path of getting married, having kids and living life. We didn’t have a plan, just a feeling. Little did we know, however, about the unexpected treasure we would find when we went on vacation to Honduras, Belize and Mexico.
THE FIRST PROPOSAL
Roatan, Honduras – December 3, 2013.
We had spent the day on a catamaran in Honduras snorkeling, swimming and eating delicious food in the sun. It was glorious! On our way back to the cruise ship, we stumbled upon a lovely store called Diamond’s International. We came upon what is now “my ring” and were blown away by its unique beauty. Neither of us had ever seen a design like this. We said to ourselves and out loud… “we can’t do this right?” But, we just had to have this ring! Everyone in the store cheered as they gave us champagne and congratulations. We kept saying, “no, no, no, we aren’t engaged yet!” But, people said, “you kinda are!” When we got back to the ship, we tucked the ring in the safe and decided to hang on to it for a while because, who wants to get engaged in a store!?!
THE SECOND PROPOSAL
Somerville, MA – February 12, 2014
Winter was going well and significant life events seemed to be looming on the horizon. After many years at EF, I opted for a career change and my last day was going to be on February 13th. Bryan knew how much it would mean to me to share the joy of our engagement with the folks I worked with for so many years and before I started my new job. It was just a normal night at Cady Ave, making dinner and watching some TV with our cat Michael. At one point, Bryan left the room and came back several minutes later. Instead of laying down next to me, he got down on both knees beside me. Bryan said some things about how much he loves me and how much he wants to spend his life with me. I didn’t really think much of it because he says stuff like that all the time. But then, he reached into his pocket and pulled out “our ring”. Then, he said “will you marry me Kelly?” Of course I said yes! The truth is that when I think about our moment, my mind always goes to that gorgeous day in Honduras when we took a leap of faith and made the decision to start our lives together. It feels special to have had both “proposals!”
Thank you!!
Kelly & Bryan Ratliff
Thanks so much to M. Studios for the terrific images!! See more images from this Maine Barn Wedding.
Photographer : M Studios
Florist : Dutch Bloemen Winkel
Caterer : Blue Elephant
Cake : White Mountain Cupcakery
Music : Music Man DJ Service
Video : Something New Photography
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