Nicole and Joe

May 28, 2006; The Community House; Birmingham, Michigan

When Nicole Valdez and Joe Fuller met, they were juniors at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Nicole jokes, "Joe fell in love with me when he met me." And Joe concurs. But Nicole was dating someone else at the time. After two years of cultivating a close friendship with Nicole and just two weeks before he moved to Los Angeles, Joe told Nicole he loved her. They started what would be a three-year long-distance relationship with lots of flights back and forth between Michigan and California. Eventually, the couple decided to move to Chicago, so they could be together. They lived there for two years before Joe popped the question at Lincoln Park Zoo.

Nicole and Joe moved from Chicago to Springfield in July 2005. Joe's family lives nearby in Ozark, and Springfield looked like a good place to start a family. But the move meant that the couple had to plan a wedding in Nicole's native Michigan from several states away. Nicole's dress was purchased at Ella Weiss Wedding Design in downtown Springfield. Joe's mom added a personalized touch by making silk charmeuse sashes for Nicole's gown and her bridesmaid dresses.

Joe and Nicole had their ceremony and reception at The Community House in Birmingham, Michigan. Nicole's favorite parts were the monkey statues in the courtyard, and she had flower leis made for them to wear. Despite a maid of honor who was more than nine months pregnant and a ring bearer who cried all the way down the aisle, the ceremony went off without a hitch. Instead of a typical program, Nicole and Joe listed the people in the wedding party and had them include quotations and advice for the newlyweds. The wait staff wore white aprons with Fuller embroidered on the leg. Chalkboards strung from the rafters showed guests what they could find at each food station: mojitos, Oberon Ale (locally brewed in Michigan), shrimp and polenta, Chinese chicken salad in to-go boxes with chopsticks and more. "It was a wonderful wedding, and I got a wonderful wife out of it," Joe says.