Sometimes love finds two people farther apart, and sometimes they’ve known each other for a while. Noel & Tanner met in high school, though they weren’t from the same school, and became inseparable ever since! Today we’re taking a peek at their wedding day and hearing their story that brought them together …
How did you two meet? What were your first impressions of one another?
Noel: Tanner and I had gone to neighboring small town schools. One of my friends from his school invited me to come to prom with her since she didn’t have a date. Tanner was in the group of friends she went to prom with. I remember instantly thinking he was cute and asking him to dance as soon as a good song came on.
Tanner: we first met at my high school prom. It was freshman year so I had no idea what was going on and trying to remain cool. I remember my friend came up and introduced Noel to me and I also thought she was very cute. Me, being the awkward knowledge-less freshman I was, was asked to dance by Noel.
Tell us a funny story relating to your wedding day or relationship!
We are high school sweethearts! We started dating September 19, 2011. We got engaged September 22, 2017 while we were celebrating our anniversary. We got married exactly a year later September 22, 2018. September 22nd happens to be Noel’s father’s birthday, and Tanner’s Grandparents (mother’s side) anniversary. So the date has many special meanings!
Describe a hurdle you had to overcome in your relationship or during your wedding planning.
During the year of 2017 and 2018 we were living long distance. During the engagement process and planning process we didn’t get to see each other as often as we would have liked to. Tanner had just graduated with his degree in Wildlife Biology and had a few temporary jobs with the DNR and US Forest service. It didn’t make sense for me to move around every few months when I had a solid steady job where I was at. So together we weathered the storm of long distance and wedding planning. This was hard time in our lives but it makes living together now so much better!
Any special ways you incorporated your family or family history into your wedding day?
We were very intentional with most of our decisions for our wedding. We are both very intentional people. My older brother and his wife Kayla (my maid of honor) got married when they were 18 and my brother was on leave from the Army. We planned their wedding in two days and they got married in the court house. They both are extremely close to us and it was important to us that they had a chance to walk down the aisle together. We rearranged the way our couples walked down the aisle and had them pick out the processional song. It was a really beautiful moment.
As far as decorations, Sam took a really beautiful photo of the wedding board I made out of a window that had the wedding photos of both of our parents and our grandparents.
What part of your wedding day was/is most important to you?
Noel: We spent a lot of time putting together our ceremony. We asked Tanner’s cousin and her husband to be our officiants and they really helped us bring everything together and make it ours. The ceremony was so important to me, but looking back the most important moment for me was our first dance. I was actually dreading slow dancing in front of a crowd, but it actually turned out to be my favorite part, it was the most connected and together I had felt with Tanner that whole day.
Tanner: The whole day was just an absolute success. Everything about the day was purposeful of how Noel and I feel and what we love. For me the first dance was the moment that truly sticks out. It felt like it was only Noel and I were there, and not 150 people watching us slowly hug each other and spin in a circle. We couldn’t stop smiling and saying I love you.
What is the best thing you’ve learned from one another?
Noel: Tanner teaches me so much constantly, but the best thing he has taught me is to continuously forgiving. Its not something I’m proud of, but I hold a firm grudge. Over the past 7 years Tanner has always encouraged me to forgive, ask for forgiveness, and move forward. It has softened my heart and lifted weight off my shoulders.
Tanner: One of the best things I have learned from Noel is how to be more compassionate and loving. I rarely show emotions, (in the almost 8 years we’ve been together she has only seen me cry maybe 4 or 5 times). She continues to help me grow in showing more of my emotion and that I don’t always have to hide them under a tough face.
What is your favorite thing about each other?
Noel: Tanner has this quality about his that just brings people joy and peace. He can walk into a room and diffuse any tangible tension or awkwardness. I am constantly impressed by his ability to to make anyone laugh and know their worth. He makes this world a beautiful place.
Tanner: She has this aura of joy around her anywhere we go. She is always beaming with happiness and it is absorbed by the people she is with.
What was your favorite part about planning your wedding?
Noel: I loved being able to connect differently with so many amazing people in our lives. The amount of people that stepped up to help us really amazed me. I think we both ended up feeling unconditionally loved by the people we have invested in over the years!
Tanner: The little bit of planning I did, (Noel never admits it but she did almost all of it), I would say is finding the venue. I was really set on cleaning up a new shed built on my father’s property out in the country. I am very happy we ended up with the venue as it felt more like our “vibe” and just a beautiful place in general.
If you had one piece of advice for other couples, what would it be?
Don’t stress! What ever is going to happen is going to happen. There’s no point in focusing your thoughts on your anxieties. Enjoy the ride! It goes by so quickly.
What is the most honest thing you can say about love?
Love has different seasons and they look different for everyone. Don’t compare your harsh winter to someone’s 74 sunny, or the opposite way around.
Photographer: Splendid Musings / venue: The Hilltop Haven / dress boutique: Modcloth / dress designer: Chi Chi London / cake designer: Kacey Tanner / film lab: PhotoVision Prints
Publisher at The White Wren and Bajan Wed, Award Winning Photography + Videographer at Live View Studios, Dad, 80s music lover, crunchy health advocate
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