The Love Story
Melinda: “Ian was someone I had
known of my entire life. I come from a big wrestling family in Montana, my dad
and uncle serving as co-head coaches at the high school in Polson for over
thirty years. Ian’s dad started and coached the wrestling program in Whitefish,
a high school in Polson’s district, so for a while our dads were pretty good
friends. In January 1984, the Whitefish wrestling team was on their way back
from a duel when their bus collided with a jack-knifed gasoline truck. Ian’s
dad was killed in the accident, along with eight other people. It was a
horrible tragedy, one that rocked the entire state. Ian was only two-years-old
at the time.
Ian and his mom moved to Missoula
shortly after the accident, where he went to school and became good friends
with my cousins. I’d heard all sorts of stories about him, but we never
actually met. It wasn’t until my sister and I crashed the wedding of a mutual
friend that I saw him for the first time as a grown man. I instantly fell for
him. I spent the rest of the night trying to set up situations where he would
come and talk to me. At first I could hardly put a sentence together, but it
didn’t take long before we were talking like old friends. I’d never met a more
respectful, smart, funny guy—and everything felt so easy and so right. As soon
as I saw my sister the next day, I told her, “Mark my words, Becky. I WILL
marry that boy.”
The Proposal
Ian: “It took seven years before I popped the question. Not
because I had any doubts. From the moment we started dating, we both knew that
we’d get married. Of course our relationship had a few ups and downs—every
relationship does. But there was always that certainty, an underlying
confidence. Together is where we were always meant to be. Besides…Melinda had
already told her sister she was going to marry me, so we really didn’t have a
choice.
The reason for waiting was that for
a long time we were doing the long-distance thing. She was down in San Diego
training as a pole vaulter at the Olympic Training Center, and I was working
toward my MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Southern Maine (in
addition to packing cheese at a dairy farm, selling NASCAR memberships in
Phoenix, working at a nuclear reactor in eastern Washington). In the fall of
2012, we took up residence back in Missoula. In the winter of 2013, I got the
ring.
In terms of asking, I had these
plans for this romantic and elaborate proposal. But as soon as I got the ring,
something came over me. I couldn’t wait. It was Valentine’s Day, and as I drove
the ring back to our shabby rental house I remember thinking, “Are you REALLY
about to propose on Valentine’s Day? Seriously. Are you that cliché?”
Apparently I am, because I had already waited seven years. I didn’t want to
wait another minute. My pitch to her was, “I was going to wait, but being
romantic isn’t really our style. So you want to do this or what?”
I know, right? …She’s the luckiest.
The Wedding
Ian: “The reception was so much fun. We held it in an old private
airport located at the base of the Swan Mountain Range in Seeley Lake. Just an
exquisite building, and O2 DJ Productions kept the party going all night long.
Melinda and I thought we’d be clever and do a little choreographed number as
our first dance. Of course Melinda looked incredible. Me on the other hand…You
wouldn’t know it by the performance, but it actually took me over 30 hours of
rehearsal to look that bad. One of our biggest compliments after the reception
was what we offered for dessert:
crème-stuffed maple bars from the Bakery in Polson, and a multi-tiered
book cake from Bernice’s Bakery in Missoula. Other than that, it was just a lot
of dancing and laughing and celebrating…You want to be able to go around and
thank everyone that came individually, tell them how much it means to you that
they made the effort to be there. I don’t think people will ever fully
understand how thankful we are for them. Melinda and I are two of the luckiest
people in the world.”
Melinda: “Our wedding was the best
day of our lives. Fairly last-minute, we decided on holding the ceremony
outside at the Lodges On Seeley Lake, which was a bit of a gamble seeing as it
was October in western Montana. But it was such a beautiful afternoon, and
everyone went above and beyond to make sure everything went off without a
hitch. It’s a humbling experience, and maybe that was the most incredible
aspect of the whole thing. Our wedding happened because our friends and family
were there every step of the way, which is exactly how we wanted it. We wanted to
look back and say, “See those flowers? Remember those candles? Our family did
that. That was because of our friends.” My brother served as our Officiate and
did an outstanding job. The ceremony was relaxed and we just laughed a lot. My
husband even made a fart-joke during his vows. Yep. You heard me right. Back
off, ladies…he’s all mine.”
Advice for future Montana Brides.
Melinda: “You have to accept going
in that not everything is going to go exactly as planned. If you do that, if
you don’t let the little things get to you, then your wedding will be perfect.
You can focus on the real reason for being there and the important things will
stand out.”
Ian: “One thing that worked for
us…We set up a code word. It was just between us. No one else knew what it
meant. When one of us used the code word, you had to immediately stop being
upset (or frustrated, or stressed, or whatever) and you couldn’t think about
whatever was bothering you until one week after the wedding. This worked out
really well for me. For example, if Melinda came up to me saying, “We need to
talk. I’m not sure this is a good idea…” I’d say, “BananaJamma.” And she
couldn’t think about it until the one week after the wedding was over.
Melinda: “As you can see, I married a man with an amazing sense of humor!”
The Vendors
Ceremony Venue: Lodges On Seeley Lake
Reception Venue: Eagle Port,
Wedding Planner: Sandi Owen
Florist: St-Char-Ro Floral & Events
Catering: Family & Friends
Cakes & Desserts: Polson City Bakery (Donuts) Bernice’sBakery (Grooms’ Cake)
Bar Service: Sports Page
Photo Booth: Montana Sunset Photobooth
DJ Sound & Lighting: O2 DJ Productions
Rentals: St-Char-Ro Floral & Event
Hair: Holly Lewing
Makeup: Alchemy Mineral Blend (Jacqueline Kukay)
Wedding Dress-Designer: Sandi Owen
Veil: Johanna Lozar
Accessories: Keenan’s Jewelery
Accessories: Keenan’s Jewelery
Rings: Keenan’s Jewelery
Invitations: Handmade
Invitations: Handmade
Lodging: Lodges on Seeley Lake
Cinematorgrapher: Todd Jackson
Officiant: Patrick Robert Owen
Great post with amazing Pics!
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