Real Wedding Story: Zachary and Julia
Hello! We are Zachary and Julia, we have been together for nine years and tied the knot on 5/28/2021 at Birch in Wauwatosa.
As with most wedding stories, ours begins with an engagement. I first spoke with my own parents about my intent to ask Julia to marry me while we were on a family trip. Both of them were supportive of us as a couple and excited at the idea of us finally getting engaged! It might be old-fashioned, but I knew I wanted the blessing of both Julia’s mother and father before moving forward. I have a great relationship with both of them, so I mostly knew that they would be happy to hear of my intentions, but I knew I wanted to ask anyway. They both gave me their blessing, so I began planning the engagement for a hiking trip to the mountains in Colorado.
I did some research on jewelers in the Madison area, where we were living at the time. I ended up ordering my customized, white gold ring with aquamarine from the highly-rated TQ Diamonds in Madison. They were helpful with the process, up-front about the cost of different options, and the ring turned out beautiful. We still get compliments on it whenever Julia is asked to show it off! However; the custom-ordered ring did not arrive in time for the trip, so I had to decide whether to ask the question with no ring in the place that I had originally chosen or to wait for the ring and find another opportunity. This brings me to my first piece of advice for grooms-to-be: an engagement should be about the way you feel about each other, not the ring. I’m glad I chose the beautiful mountain trail scenery, and the moment felt right, and she of course said yes! I already knew she was a perfect partner for me, but the fact that she didn’t even need a ring just proved it all over again.
We gave ourselves a good amount of time to plan our wedding – we planned to be engaged for nearly two years, and looking back on it, I’m glad we did. We were able to work on one detail at a time and slowly chip away at the long list of things needed to pull off the wedding of our dreams. Julia was very organized with the process, keeping a running to-do list, and her attention to detail really paid off. This kept the process from feeling overwhelming. We also enlisted the help of parents, siblings, groomsmen, and bridesmaids along the way. Do not be afraid to reach out for help, your friends and family are often honored to take part in planning your special day!
Our last piece of advice for couples on their wedding day is this: Decide upon the pieces that are truly the most important to you about your wedding day, and pour your energy into those things, but don’t forget to enjoy them along the way. Not everything will go perfectly… that’s almost impossible with how much is planned! Focus on the things you can control, savor the many things that will bring you joy, enjoy each other’s company, and let the little stressors and road bumps fall away.
We hope your wedding brings you as much joy and excitement as ours!
With love,
Zachary and Julia
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