Kaylin and Patrick’s modern love story began online. He was living in the suburbs and she had just moved back to the city from LA. Because of the distance and their schedules, they started slow—Patrick was coaching soccer in the evenings and on weekends and Kaylin was working a 9-5 job on Monday through Friday.
Eventually, our connection was too strong to deny, and we made a choice and started dating for real.
Kaylin loves that Patrick challenges her to be a better person every single day.
I love how he can always brighten up my day no matter what might have happened at work, and I love how we can have the best time together whether we’re traveling the world, or just sitting at home on the couch with Netflix and a pizza.
Patrick’s words about his wife were equally as kind.
I have learned so much from Kaylin and continue to do so every day I am with her. She has made me a better person in every part of my life. She is beautiful, kind, smart, and considerate.
About a year into dating, Kaylin went to Ireland with Patrick to meet his family. Kaylin, who doesn’t sleep well on planes, was exhausted by the time they landed in Dublin and had quite a drive before getting to Patrick’s hometown.
Patrick is from a small town in County Cork, which is a two and a half hour drive from the Dublin airport. My lovely boyfriend, now husband, made me sit in the middle of the backseat between him and his mom—whom I had just met minutes before. I spent my first few hours in Ireland trying not to fall asleep and very annoyed at Patrick for that! Luckily, I think I still made a good impression. We laugh about it now!
A small portion of the Irish baked beans Kaylin and Patrick received from his family. They kept asking Patrick what sweets or snacks he wanted that he couldn’t get over here, and he told everybody that he wanted beans. Well…he got his beans! We have a whole cabinet full now.
Kaylin isn’t sure if there was ever THE moment where she knew he was the one for her, but she thinks it was when she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
Patrick planned to propose at the
restaurant where he and Kaylin shared their first date, but Kaylin wasn’t feeling up to the long drive and suggested to have dinner closer to home. Since she messed up his plan, he made the decision to propose the next day and Kaylin had no idea!
He was very insistent that day that we go to Montrose Beach for a walk, which I should have noted as odd, because that’s not something that he ever did. I was also dressed in my best sweatpants for the occasion.
We got to the beach, took a little walk, and sat down. We were chatting about the beautiful late spring day, and all of a sudden I look over and Patrick had a ring box in his hand. He said very simply, “Will you marry me?” I said, “YES!” and the rest is history.
When it came time to find a venue to celebrate their day, Kaylin and Patrick found exactly what they were looking for in The Haight.
I loved that everything is in one place, the staff was engaged and helpful, and that the space was already beautifully decorated. I also loved the gorgeous bridal suite—I could picture the beautiful photographs and how special getting ready would be in a space like that.
Kaylin loved every moment of the day, but especially being surrounded by all their favorite people—celebrating their love.
I grew up in the Chicago suburbs but my family moved to California and South Carolina, and Patrick’s family and friends are from Ireland (as is he). 80% of our guests came from out of town—50% from out of the country. It was really special that we had everyone together. We had representation from seven states (Illinois, Ohio, Louisiana, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Arizona) and four countries (Ireland, England, Australia, and Canada). We had a truly international wedding during a very Irish weekend—St. Patrick’s Day!
Kaylin’s advice for newly engaged couples is don’t stress! It’s a lot of work to get married, and it all culminates on one special day, where even if something does not go exactly as planned, it is still perfect!
Also, do what is going to make you two happy. We tried our best to plan a party that we would want to attend, and our guests could feel that love. We enjoyed our wedding so much because we followed this rule.