SHAE + SHAYNA Wedding 2020

I waited a long time for this wedding. Shayna and I met online sometime between 2012 and 2014. We have been there for each other through a LOT of stuff between breakups, moves, new jobs, deployments… Even at such a distance (from AK to MS, and GA to IL), we found a way. Through texts, many phone calls and quite a few long FaceTimes, we were there.

When Shayna told me shed been talking to Shae, I was so happy for her!!!! She looked so genuinely happy when she talked about him. I could tell this was going to be it. THIS was going to be the love story Shayna was going to get to tell for many years to come.

I am SO thankful during these hard times that I had the opportunity to go and shoot her wedding. And meet her for the first time out in Illinois. I got to meet her best friend, her soul mate, her partner for life. I got to meet the man who loved her through anything and had the patience she deserved. I had her write up their story to share because it’s just TOO good for y’all to not know….

“Shae & I matched on Tinder on February 7, 2017 and met in person on February 11. Before, I had always felt icky about meeting people online but with Shae, something made me jump!

We went to Bass Pro Shop for our first date where he learned I have an obsession with coffee mugs and I learned he stares at the knives and guns for way too long. I also learned that he wants to go survival-ing.

After we left Bass Pro, we ran to Walmart to get a pizza and came back to my house where Shae & I ended up staying the night because I feel asleep while watching Legend. The next morning, my best friend called to ask how meeting the guy from Tinder went & after learning he was still there, she told me I would marry him.

Honestly I felt like I fell in love with him quicker than I should’ve and said it accidentally about a month after we met - which we just kind of ignored and pretended like it didn’t happen.

We moved in together May of 2017 and have been inseparable since. I don’t really know when either one of us “knew” because he still won’t tell me and it felt like I always knew.

We have more ups than downs and even though being apart is hard, I wouldn’t want to do life with anyone else.” -Shayna

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