Sometimes, the greatest blessings in life come out of the hardest circumstances.

Kit and Briana became that unexpected blessing to each other the day their paths met, and a steady source of renewed hope and joy for one another. Their first meeting came in September of 2016, after a mutual friend set them up for a date. They spent the afternoon hiking with their dogs and enjoying one another's conversation. They would soon discover how many separate occasions they'd been in the same place at the same time, as far back as an 8th grade dance! The connection was strong and the hikes continued over the course of the next year. Kit joined Bri and her family on a Christmas trip to Florida in 2017, carrying something small and sparkly along with him. It was over family dinner one night, earlier than he'd planned, but seizing the perfect moment, that Kit made his proposal to the love of his life.

6 months later, on a similarly balmy day back home in Northern Michigan, Kit and Briana read their vows to one another on the beach along Grand Traverse Bay. With their toes in the sand, and surrounded by their closest friends and family, it was truly a beautiful start to a great new chapter for both of them.