Sarah and Josh met in the weight room in college, where she was on the soccer team and he was on the basketball team. Sarah realized that their paths often crossed, and the times they didn’t cross, she would go out of her way to bump into him on campus! Their friendship started with a lot of laughter, long drives, and late night fires with friends that quickly grew into a relationship. The pair began dating in 2010, got engaged in 2013, and were married later that year.
We are so excited to celebrate Sarah and Josh as they renew their vows at The Big Fake Wedding Minneapolis-St.Paul tomorrow night at Le Meridien Chambers Minneapolis. We hope to see you there!
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What was the most unique part of your engagement story?
From her: Our unique story is that we were engaged twice. Once in 2011 with the wedding being called off at the rehearsal and then again in 2013 – with the wedding going through! Our relationship has a crazy story – one we would have never written for ourselves, and yet we would also now never change. We started dating April 2, 2010, got engaged May 2011 with a wedding set for September 4th 2011. However, at our rehearsal for a variety of reasons we and our family came to see that we were not ready to get married. We made one of the hardest choices of our life and called off our wedding 16 hours before the ceremony was supposed to start. The next two years were filled with a lot of soul searching for the two of us, a lot of crying, and a lot of growing. On June 9th, 2013 Josh got down on one knee and told me that despite all we had been through I was still the one he wanted to do life with. We happily got married on September 6th, 2013.
From him: While we were dating, I learned that she thought it was romantic when guys played guitars (like most girls).
I taught myself how to play a song so I could play it for her the day I proposed. The song was “when you say nothing at all” by Randy Travis.
What was the absolute best memory from your wedding day?
From her: My favorite memory is walking down the aisle seeing Josh’s face; then standing next to him at the altar. He cried the WHOLE way through the ceremony. Because of our bumpy road toward marriage I started to get really nervous. I eventually leaned over and asked “are those happy tears or sad tears” and he laughed and said “happy!” (with the world’s biggest smile). I remember feeling such peace and joy in that moment and thinking “I’m going to remember this moment for the rest of my life.”
From him: The best memory I have is going through the ceremony. The weight of what marriage means to us and the commitment we were walking into was exciting, scary and surreal all at the same time. Standing up there with my bride to be, and the support of our community behind us was one of the most encouraging moments of my life.
What inspires you about each other?
From her: Josh inspires me to love others well. He is and continues to be one of the most humble, genuine, and caring guys I have ever met. He pushes me to be a better me. He helps me see life from a different lens and he never has given up on me. Marriage has been hard – full of bumps in the road, change of plans, change of jobs, fights, stress, etc. and yet time after time to hear Josh say, “I’m never leaving. You are my teammate and we are going to make it through this” is truly a gift.
From him: Sarah inspires me because of her selfless nature and her caring heart. I remember when I was first getting to know her, some things jumped out at me: 1) How she look out for the needs of others. 2) She has a passion to give a voice to those who don’t have one. 3) She does everything she does with 100%. – that’s attractive!
What is the most awesome thing about your marriage?
Being married to my best friend!
What advice would you give an engaged couple?
From her: I would say in the time from engagement to wedding to focus more on the marriage than on the wedding. Good marriages are hard work. Take a ton of effort and intentionality. I have never looked back and thought “I wish I had that at my wedding” but I do look back and think “I wish we had spent more time talking about ___ or learning about ___” before our marriage. Put forth more effort in learning about your future spouse and how to love and serve them then planning a 12 hour event. What matters is the person you wake up next to after your wedding day – not what your centerpieces looked like, how the food tasted, or where you got your dress from. The grass is greenest where you water it — and that is true of marriage. It takes time and energy to water a marriage, and learning how to water your relationship/marriage starts long before you say “I do” Spend time with each other where you don’t talk about the wedding. Develop love and intimacy rituals through engagement that you can continue in marriage… could go on and on about investing your time and energy where it matters most. And yet I also want to warn that despite what culture throws at us – marriage can not and will not fulfill you. You will never feel completely satisfied all the time in marriage, and that is okay. In engagement do yourself a favor, and set up realistic expectations of what marriage means to you and why. Lastly, find a couple of other married friends that you can do life on life with. When the going gets tough you will need friends who have journeyed before you to help you sort through you feelings and emotions (it’s crazy how one relationship can bring you on such a roller coaster). Those friends have been vital to us and our marriage!
From him: For the men, fight to be invested in the little details that don’t always matter to you. Many things that don’t matter to me, (center piece, colors, etc), matter to her. Fight to step in and care about those things because it serves your future bride. She will feel more connected and thought for as she sees you engage in ways you might not be prone to typically. Secondly, seek out people who have a couple years under their belt to help you through marriage. I know we all going into think It is going to be clouds and fairy tales, but the reality is that the person on the other side will be changing for the rest of their life, just like you will. Ask a couple to mentor you through the issues that will arise, and learn how to walk through marriage well together early. Early patterns will be set, so make them good ones.
Photo Credit:
Nikki Jilek | Rebecca Oehrig Ulasich
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The Big Fake Wedding Minneapolis-St. Paul is completely SOLD OUT! If you missed out, we invite you to join us at another one of our events – check out the rest of our 2015 schedule here.
