Marilyn Welniak07.20.1990
Marilyn is the love of my life. I knew there was something special about Marilyn when I first met her... maybe because she could actually put up with my every day nonsense.
Marilyn and I often find ourselves busy -- moving quickly between our work, social events, and personal projects. But the one thing I love most is that Marilyn and I anchor each other; no matter what’s happening, what’s good or what’s wrong, we always come home to each other.
Quinn Damerell04.19.1989
I once read a quote that said that there was no such thing as soul mates but sometimes, if you are very lucky, you will meet someone who is exactly right for you. Not because that person is perfect, or because you're perfect, but because your flaws combined will be arranged in such a way that it allows to separate beings to hinge together.
I don't know if there is such thing as soulmates, but I do know that I have been extremely lucky to find someone as loving, patient, caring, and hilarious as Quinn. He is everything I ever hoped I would find and everything I never knew I needed. I can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together!
06 September: They Meet
One chilly September night in 2011, Marilyn and her roommates made a late night run to Greyhouse Coffee, a favorite jaunt on Purdue's campus, for some coffee and crepes. Next door at Brother's Bar & Grill, Quinn was celebrating his friend's birthday.
After texting someone in Marilyn's group and convincing them to join for a beer, they were introduced briefly in the upstairs of the bar though Marilyn spent the majority of the night talking to her best friend Anna.
She pondered the complexities of life over Twitter:
Is it winning or losing to be out at the bars on a Tuesday?
— Marilyn (@marilynwelniak) September 7, 201101 October: Purdue vs Notre Dame
Being weird at the Purdue vs Notre Dame game only cemented our friendship and proved that we were going to be livelong friends.
13 October: Their First Psuedo-Date
After awhile though, it was pretty clear that this wasn't just friendship, and these two were developing feelings for each other but Marilyn, having just recently come out of a long relationship, wanted to take things slowly.
They had their first psuedo-date at one of their favorite nighttime jaunts in West Lafayette, the Neon Cactus, with the company of a group of their friends where they hung out in the piano bar singing along poorly to different tunes.
30 October: They Started Dating Officially
Between Zombie Pub Crawls, a mutual love of video games, and so many fun nights together, Marilyn decided "taking it slow" be damned and they started dating officially. There was no denying what they felt was real and that life was so much better when they were together.
12 November: Trip to Chicago
Quinn worked on Windows Phone during his internship with Microsoft and so they took their first day trip up to Chicago to check out the launch party.
18 December: Marilyn Graduated
Marilyn graduated in December of 2011, a semester before Quinn, causing life and their relationship to be a bit uncertain for awhile. Thankfully on the day of her graduation, Marilyn was offered a position at a web development firm in West Lafayette allowing her to stay close to her friends and to Quinn.
At the end of December, she moved into a one bedroom apartment near the river where Quinn spent the majority of his free time.
14 February: Their First Overnight Trip
Nothing says romance like Pizza and Champagne in Chicago! Quinn and Marilyn took their first overnight trip up to Chicago where they ate delicious food and saw the musical Memphis. It was a picture perfect weekend.
15 March: SXSW
Quinn won a trip to SXSW so they headed down to Austin, Texas for a weekend of music, BBQ, and nerdy parties provided by Microsoft. It was awesome; they saw a man galloping in full cowboy gear down a busy street and ate the most delicious tacos ever.
12 May: Quinn Graduated
The summer was approaching and with that brought more change: Quinn's graduation! While it meant he was done with school (yay!) it also meant it was time for him to clean up his apartment, pack up, and head back to Fort Wayne before he moved to Seattle (boo!).
16 August: Quinn Moves to Seattle
The summer was ending and after trips together to Cedar Point and Wisconsin, Quinn visiting down in West Lafayette, and months of living in the same state, it was time for Quinn to move to Seattle to start his job at Microsoft and the next chapter of his life. Uncertain of where life would lead them now they were on nearly opposite ends of the country, they tried making long distance work via phone calls and visits from Marilyn to Seattle before ultimately deciding to break up. Boo!
15 October: Marilyn Moves to Seattle
Turns out, being broken up just wasn't working for them. After months of trying not to talk, failing at not talking, and missing each other a lot, Marilyn and Quinn were still crazy about each other. After Marilyn got a job at Amazon and moved to Seattle, they decided maybe it would be better if they got back together for good.
28 January: They Moved In Together
Marilyn had been staying at Quinn's apartment unofficially for a month or so already when they decided it was silly for her to be paying for her own apartment and they moved in together. Thankfully Quinn was willing to carry all her boxes of books!
Just a couple comics.. #unpacking pic.twitter.com/WQIf6kyg
— Marilyn (@marilynwelniak) January 28, 201323 June: Their First Apartment
Even though they had already been living together, it was time to move in to a new apartment: one they could pick out together! So they packed their whole apartment up and moved all their things in a one bedroom condo in the heart of Capitol Hill.
18 April: They Got A Puppy
Things were going so well that it was time to add a third into their little family so they adopted an miniature Australian Labradoodle and named her Lulu. They brought her home the day before Quinn's birthday even though she may have been wanted a teeny bit more by Marilyn. They couldn't imagine their life without this ball of energy.
01 February: Things Were Getting Serious
In February of 2015 things were definitely getting serious (you know, if you don't count living together and owning a dog serious) -- they bought an engagement ring. But Quinn still wanted to surprise Marilyn with the actual proposal so she had to wait...
01 April: Vegas Trip
After Quinn was weird about his carry-on bag and claiming it was "full with an Xbox controller," she thought maybe he was planning on proposing and had to come to terms with the fact that Quinn was planning on proposing in Vegas of all places. Nope, he really did have an Xbox controller but they had an awesome vacation anyway.
15 April: Florida
A little over a week after their trip to Vegas, they were wheels up once again and flew down to Captival Island, Florida to join Marilyn's parents for a ten day vacation by the beach.
16 April: The Proposal
While waiting for Marilyn's parents to get ready for their nightly sunset watch, Quinn and Marilyn decided to take a walk along the beach. Strolling hand in hand, they picked up a bunch of shells before finally selecting their favorites and Marilyn, impatient to get back to her parents, tried tugging Quinn back down the beach. When he told her to wait, she turned around to find him with his palm out and the engagement ring in-between. "I want to ask you a question," he said and Marilyn laughed, telling him to go ahead and ask it. He got down on one knee, artfully dodging the waves, and asked her to marry him to which she replied: "Of course!"
It was the best night ever.
The Wedding
The Wedding Location
- Ceremony & Reception
- Accommodations Nearby
- Airport
Ceremony 5:00 PM
Schlitz Audubon Nature Center
41111 E Brown Deer Rd, Milwaukee, WI
43.17653, -87.89505
Reception 5:30 PM
Schlitz Audubon Nature Center
41111 E Brown Deer Rd, Milwaukee, WI
43.17653, -87.89505
Wedding Gifts
-
Buy something
for our home -
Buy something
for the honeymoon