Stefanski Wedding
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you with love: Mr. & Mrs. Stefanski!
At the elegant Upper East in downtown Kenosha, Kyle and Danielle were united in marriage. The love stories of this extended family are beautiful and plentiful, and I am thrilled to keep being part of them. It was fun to see a bridesmaid/cousin of Danielle that was one of my brides just three months prior, and it was awesome to see Kyle and Danielle as the bride and groom instead of wedding guests. This sweet couple is a joy to be around, and it was a lovely honor to officiate their wedding ceremony.
Enjoy a few excerpts from this special ceremony below.
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I love a good love story, and Kyle and Danielle have a love story worth celebrating. Let’s flip back to the beginning. The bride and groom’s story began in high school. The setting- prom season. Danielle, bummed that a certain boy didn’t ask her to prom, had a well-meaning friend convince Kyle to ask her instead. Danielle said that she wasn’t desperate for a date. The first boy ended up asking her, and off to prom she went while Kyle stayed home.
Danielle threw in a plot twist, however, and asked the boy to bring her home early. After calling it an early night with her prom date, Danielle reached out to Kyle to let him know that she would rather be spending time with him.
And so that is what they did. They spent time together. They started filling chapters of their lives with their own special adventures.
They spent their college years long-distance, but they talked all the time. They agree that over those years of long phone conversations, they learned to truly communicate. What a blessing that was for their relationship.
Danielle once wrote in a letter to Kyle assuring words that he was going to meet a great girl while at school. Kyle assured Danielle that she was the great girl!
After the college chapters, the couple soon went from long-distance to living together in a one-bedroom apartment where they both work from home. That’s a lot of time together. Good thing you spent all those years learning how best to communicate with each other. But this couple is so darn cute and in love that, even after being mere feet away from each other all day, after work they will still ask each other, “How was your day?”
Kyle and Danielle, you both have established a truly beautiful life together. Kyle, you did not get your prom, but you got the wedding. That’s even better. What a blessing your love is to both of you.
As the years go by and you add more chapters to your love story, may you always remember that love is a condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.
Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness, and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulties, and fear assail your relationship, remember to focus on what is right between you.
In this way, you can ride out the storms— remembering that even if the skies get cloudy, the sun is still there. When life gets challenging, your love for each other is still there. And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight
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Kyle and Danielle, your union today also unites your families. This glass ceremony is a beautiful representation of the joining of your lives. The many individual pieces of glass before you represent your individuality. As the pieces get combined into this one vessel and molded into a singular Christmas ornament that you will cherish, so, too, do your individual lives blend together as one family. Each piece will always be important, necessary, and significant to the integrity of the whole ornament, just as each of you will always be important, necessary, and significant to the integrity of your marriage. Your individuality and uniqueness will always remain. However, once these pieces of glass are molded into one form, they will become inseparable- just like your union and devotion to each other. Glass is fragile. So, too, is your marriage. Handle both with care. You are now creating a beautiful union. You are no longer two but one family.
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Vows
(Kyle) Danielle, 3,436 days have passed since we first met. Since that first day, you have become my best friend and the love of my life, and you have made me the happiest man on the planet. Today is the best day of my life because I can now call you my wife.
I have watched you take on the world and grow to be an amazing woman. I could not be prouder of who you have become. You are the most beautiful, thoughtful, and selfless person I know.
You are my strength when I am weak, my sunshine when it rains, and my warmth when I get a brain freeze from Culver’s ice cream. You celebrate me for my strengths and accept me for my flaws. You have pushed me to become a better man every day, and I am endlessly thankful to have you in my life.
You have always been my rock and I promise to always reciprocate your love. I promise to be by your side on every adventure, from travelling the world to going to the zoo to see the giraffes. I promise to always shoulder your burdens, no matter how heavy they may be. I will always rejoice your wins, big or small, and comfort you in times of need. I promise to always put you above all else, even on a Packers Sunday when you want to go out shopping.
Although today is the start of our journey as a married couple, the past 9 years have been nothing short of spectacular. I would not trade this time for anything in the world.
So, Danielle, I make this vow to you: even on the brightest of days and the darkest of nights, I promise that I will be forever by your side. It has been 3,436 days since we first met, but I will love you for 3,436 more lifetimes.
(Danielle) Back in 2013, a boy heading off to college in Tennessee once told me that the distance wouldn’t matter, because life would go by faster than we could ever image and that it would all be worth it. Somewhere along the way, almost a decade has passed and that same teenage boy – now a man – stands before me as my husband. And I can now confirm that every facetime date, love letter, and gruesome mile put on your rusty 2003 Toyota Corolla was worth it to get to this day.
It seems like we’ve lived a dozen lifetimes together already – all coming together with so much joy, belly-aching laughter, and heartbreaking loss. And throughout every stage of life and the different people that we’ve grown to be along the way, there’s no one else I could have imagined experiencing it all with. And I can’t wait to continue to do it all with you for the rest of our lives.
Today we become one, but you should know that you are truly and without a doubt the best part of us. I’m told all the time how lucky I am to have a “Kyle” in my life, and I agree every time. Your positive outlook on life is infectious. You are kind without hesitation, even when someone doesn’t deserve it. Your determination to be the best version of yourself is admirable. You genuinely strive to see those around you succeed without even a hint of jealousy or self-praise – a win for others is truly a win for you. And above all, the way you love the people that I love, is what truly sealed the deal for me. The way you sat through my nana’s long stories, even if it was the fifth time she’d told you the same one… how you are with my Dad and Granny brings me a sense of joy that I could never explain… and for always taking my mom’s side in a disagreement just to appease her, because you know if your mother-in-law is happy then you’re in a good spot.
I am so glad that I found a man who is willing to share my heart with all of the people that I love but knows that he will always be my number one no matter what.
I know in this moment that I should be listing off all of the things I vow to do in our marriage, but I can’t stand here and promise you today that I’ll never fall short, make mistakes or drop the ball when I shouldn’t. But what I CAN promise you is that you will always be my priority, and nothing is more important to me in this world than us and the life we will continue to build together. And no matter what gets thrown our way, I promise to always stay young at heart and use laughter as the best medicine.
Your soul is one of a kind and I am the luckiest girl in the world to have the privilege of growing old, wrinkly, and senile with you. I love you.
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To Mr. and Mrs. Stefanski and a lifetime of love! Cheers!
