Grace & Travis: An intimate country wedding in Kalispell

Their Story

Grace and I first met in an American History class our junior year of high school. I walked in and sat right beside her and froze like an idiot. I couldn't help but glance over at her often, contemplating how I was going to introduce myself. I was terrified like I’ve never been. The teacher tasked us all with matching cards – something along the lines of states and their capitals, and I was convinced that my card matched hers. All of my logic had gone out the window and I immediately went to her. When we were told we were incorrect I shuttered, realizing I had made a fool of myself.

When I got home that afternoon, I was welcomed by my Momma sitting at the top of the stairs asking me how my day went. Instead of having a conversation about how the new school was, I instantly said to her, “Momma, I think I found the one”. She laughed but looked at my reaction and realized I was being genuine. A million questions followed for the rest of the afternoon.

The next morning I woke up, laid in bed and talked myself into finding a way to know Grace better. So when that class came later that day I again found myself in a trance. At the end of class I gave her a note with my phone number on it and despite spelling “cheezy” wrong, she decided to text me that night. We talked for hours, and pretty soon it became ritual for me to pick her up in the morning and drop her off at home after school. We became best friends, and as I got to know her more, I fell head over boots. November came quickly and holds a special place in my heart, as the fourteenth became our official anniversary that night in the park – it was our favorite place to walk and stare at the few stars you could see through the city lights. They reminded us of our small town homes we had left behind.

Grace got to experience the place I came from and was immediately swallowed up by its intoxicating ambiance. From the first time she came up with me, her and I knew that it would be home someday for her as well. She began to spend summers with my family and me in Whitefish, Montana. Whitefish is one of those places you never want to leave once you’ve seen the town, the people, and the surrounding beauty that God has blessed the valley with. Grace’s eyes shimmered when she was here, and I wanted them to stay like that forever. Last summer, Grace and I went camping before she had to go home to teach. We stopped at this little bridge that we had visited before. It is overgrown and long forgotten by most, but it is my favorite place in the valley to get away to. I had been secretly paying for a ring the whole summer and when we walked out onto the bridge I told Grace I would take a picture of her, but instead I got down on one knee and waited for her to turn around. When she did, her eyes filled up with tears and the first words that came out were “no way?” in a shocked Minnesotan accent. We laughed, and she said yes as she pulled me up and wrapped herself around me.

Since our wedding was smaller and more intimate, it was easy to have a relaxed setting for all of our guests. The groom and groomsmen wore khaki's and no suit coats. There were yard games that were home made such as ladder ball and corn hole. We had a southern buffet from Piggy Back BBQ and a lot of country music. –Travis