About Us Blog Books Games Movies Music Photos Trips

Kerry & Gabe's Wedding FAQ

We have been getting various questions from friends and family, so we thought we would offer some answers to the common questions.

How did you two meet each other?
The really short version of the story is that we met because we both play poker. More details are in the Our Story section as well as the Shutterfly album that we created.

How long have you guys been dating?
By the time of our wedding, we will have been together for about a year. Often this question is quickly followed by, "wow, that was quick!" All we can really say to that is that it seems perfect to us, and we are very happy and excited about our future together! As Gabe's 13-year-old nephew puts it, "Kerry's pretty cool. She is just like Gabe, only she's a girl." We are constantly amazed at how well our beliefs, life goals, interests, and ambitions line up together in such harmony.

How did he/she propose? When did it happen?
Conversations between us have been nothing but comfortable from the beginning. Marriage was one of those conversations, and the more we got to know each other, the more frequent it became. The "if" in getting married seamlessly evolved to "where & when" to get married. Once we began looking at locations, it was just a matter of time. We considered New York City briefly, then decided Sedona would be a perfect fit for what we wanted. Since we had already decided that a traditional, formal engagement was not for us, all that remained was making it official. To us, making it official meant telling our families. We did so on Friday, April 14th, 2006.

Why are you getting married in Sedona?
Kerry wanted to do something interesting for her 30th birthday, so we planned to go to Sedona for a relaxing week and spectacular scenery. We ended up changing the week to October so that we could get a special lodging deal. We had no plans to get married on this trip at this point!

When looking for ideas of things to do in Sedona, we discovered that it was quite the popular place for weddings. The more we considered the idea of getting married there, the more we liked it! We loved the dramatic scenery, and we knew that our photos would be amazing! Once we were set on getting married in Sedona, we thought it was most logical to go ahead and do it on the trip that we already had planned. We found several companies in Sedona that handle all of the wedding details for you, including some that specialize in very small, intimate ceremonies. This was very appealing to us as we wouldn't have to deal with the stress and planning hassles. They would handle all of our details for us while we could focus on the event and each other. We debated whether or not to keep our plans a secret, but we decided we wanted to share the news prior to our big event. We just couldn't keep that kind of happy and exciting news to ourselves for too long! We also wanted to give our families plenty of time to make their vacation plans.

Why didn't you guys want to get married in Vegas?
Well, naturally we considered Vegas because of our poker connection, and we were somewhat drawn to it since Gabe's parents and grandparents had been married in chapels on The Strip. Since both of us have been to Vegas so many times, we didn't think that it would be as special or romantic. Plus, the last thing we need to do is ruin our moods with a losing gambling day!

Why are you having a traditional Native American ceremony?
When we learned that our wedding coordinators offered the Native American wedding ceremony, we did a little research on what it entailed. We thought that the Shaman's Blessing aligned very nicely with what we wanted from our wedding. We also felt that the Native American ceremony complemented our rings beautifully.

What are you two going to wear at the wedding?
Gabe will be wearing a suit, and Kerry will be wearing a formal dress.

Who will be attending your ceremony?
Our ceremony will be very small with only members of our immediate family present. Traveling from Kentucky are Gabe's parents (Debbie and Mick), sister (Heidi), and cousin (Jessica). Kerry's parents (Gretchen and David), sister (Kristin), and brother-in-law (Chad) will all be flying in from North Carolina.

Where will you live after the wedding?
As many of you know, we both own houses. Since neither of us are particularly interested in the rental business, we decided to sell Gabe's house and live in Kerry's for a while. The longer term plan is to save some money to buy a new house together.

Is Kerry going to change her last name?
Nope, she is keeping her old name, at least for now. She has decided to stick with the name that has been her identity for most of the last 30 years. Plus, it does have the benefit of being extremely easy to spell! And for the record, Gabe's not planning to change his name either.

Why are you taking a separate honeymoon when you're already on a vacation for the wedding? Why New York City?
We could have made Sedona our honeymoon, but we're always looking for more trip opportunities! Plus, our Sedona trip will be more of a family trip than a honeymoon. We will only be in Sedona a few extra days after our families head back home. We had several motivations for choosing New York City for our honeymoon. First of all, New York City is one of Kerry's favorite cities to visit. Since Gabe has never been, Kerry has been wanting to take him to NYC and show him her favorite sites. When we were doing research for various wedding ceremony venues, we stumbled upon Library Hotel. We knew that if we couldn't have our ceremony there, we definitely wanted to stay there sometime! We thought that our honeymoon would be the perfect opportunity. Finally, we discovered PhotoTrek Tours and again thought that it would be a neat thing to do on our honeymoon!

Are you planning to have a local party/reception for friends and family who are unable to attend your wedding?
Yes! We are planning to have a sort of casual reception at our home after our honeymoon. We should have plenty of photos to show everyone of the wedding and honeymoon. More information can be found in the Party section!