In 2016, Megan and Donovan were strangers attending different colleges on opposite sides of Michigan. Summer break brought them both to Clarkston, MI, and the same local country club, where they took seasonal jobs at Oakhurst Country Club. During a staff training, Megan caught her first sight of Donovan, and was smitten. Acting in stark contrast to her usual shy demeanor, Megan approached him and offered to cover his shift. They exchanged numbers, which opened the door for conversation to continue. It wasn’t long before they began spending time together outside of shifts. It was a summer romance that swept them both up in its warm embrace.
Life would take them both in different directions over the four years that followed. Both of them continued to date other people, but every relationship lacked that perfect connection they had felt with each other. One night, Megan recalls scrolling Hinge to give the dating app one last shot. Donovan’s name popped up.
”He had been on my mind a lot lately, so I took it as a sign”, she remembers. Two minutes after her right swipe, both of them sent the same message at the same instant - “I still love you”. The very next night, Donovan made a dinner of “Marry Me Chicken” for the girl who almost got away. He texted his mom to let her know that Megan was coming over, and that his plan was to propose in just 6 month’s time.
July 4th rolled around - the same date on which they shared their first kiss four years earlier. In their back yard with their pup Stella happily observing, Donovan made good on his plan and put a ring on Megan’s finger.
The two lovers chose to celebrate their wedding with a small group of their closest friends and family, at Traverse City’s Historic Bowers Harbor Inn. The ceremony took place on the property’s rolling great lawn, overlooking the calm waters of Grand Traverse Bay. The celebrations continued into the evening with a merry candlelight dinner in the Inn’s front room.
