Hope + Kevin by Foolishly Rushing In - Together Journal

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

Hope: I am a Marketing Director at MetLife, working on implementing the Agile Evolution Program. I love to be outside as much as possible. Lately, this has looked like tending my garden and growing flowers for my home.

I have traveled to over 50 countries, and all 7 continents, including Antarctica. Recently, I have started taking pottery classes to build decorations for our home in the Finger Lakes, NY. I read every morning with my coffee, preferably on our patio.

Kevin: I am a PhD candidate in Food Science at Cornell University. I love to hike and fish, and generally be outdoors. I love everything about food, and enjoy learning how things are made and how different flavors are developed.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

We met at a dive nightclub in Philadelphia, Pulse Nightclub, with a tag line ‘no line, no cover’. It was love at first sight. Both of us immediately knew we would marry the other one day. I (Hope) actually thought we were going to hangout with a different Kevin that was a friend and was surprised when my friend got the phone numbers confused and it was her ‘other’ friend Kevin. One little mistake and twist of fate, brought us together at 2am, no line, no cover. I remember telling my mom the next day that I met the man I will one day marry.

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…

Kevin tried to propose a few times, with the proposal getting interrupted by a flight delay, the onset of covid, and protests in Philadelphia. He decided to do it one Thursday afternoon at dusk with champagne, catering from my favorite restaurant, and hundreds of sunflowers in our backyard.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…

I wanted it to be elegant, natural, and with influences of Spanish style. We wanted to incorporate as many personal details as possible. We knew we wanted a small, intimate, destination wedding. We wanted to feel and interact as much as possible. Making meaningful connections and having a warm vibe was our intent.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?

A few: Having a live painter, we LOVED having him there and everyone enjoyed watching him paint the night as we dined and danced the night away.

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?

My husband’s one thing he wanted was inflatable tube people to pop after we were pronounced as wed. We had Harry Styles blast and the tube people blow up to make a grande exit. We LOVED it, everyone loved it! It was so much fun, very funny, we still have them today. It definitely made our wedding unique.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?

I worked at a wedding dress store for 5 years and had always dreamed of wearing a ML dress. When it was time to go dress shopping, I knew exactly where I wanted to get it. I wanted something that would be timeless, but different from a lot of the dresses we typically see. My mom and dad went with me to try on the dress, it was so sweet to see them cry when I put the dress on. It was the first dress I tried on.

I always talked about Jimmy Choo shoes growing up, and would joke about finding a man to buy me Jimmy Choos. My father surprised me and purchased them for me and said ‘so you know you always will have someone in your life to buy you Jimmy Choos’ it was a special moment with my dad.