A Sweet Cathedral Elopement During the Times of COVID-19
A Cathedral Elopement During COVID-19
Not even COVID can stop love.
We are honored to be able to share Erin and Chase’s sweet unexpected Stillwater elopement in the most gorgeous Oklahoma cathedral we’ve ever laid eyes on. Enjoy!
How long have you known each other? How did you meet?
We knew of each other in college, (2013) but connected one night at karaoke with mutual friends in Oklahoma City, in 2017 - Chase slipped Erin his number on a napkin that said "Let's get lunch." Our first date was at S&B Burger's for lunch.
When did each of you know you wanted to get married? When did you fall for each other?
Erin: I knew pretty early on - Chase was always doing things for other people, including me. He's a really giving person and I fell in love with his family.
Chase: I knew after making a couple of trips to Tulsa - getting to know her and her family and seeing the way they love each other.
How did you get engaged?
Chase pulled over at the entrance to Erin's family ranch and asked for Erin to marry him - a small gathering of friends and family were waiting back at the family home down the ranch. Erin's sister made homemade tacos (Erin and Chase's favorite meal) and the sky was beautiful shades of pink, orange, and purple. We always joked that as much as you plan something, you can never plan a sunset like that.
Did you write your own vows or exchange traditional vows? If you wrote your own, what was each of your favorite line(s) from the vows?
We exchanged traditional vows and felt the power of every word.
Tell us about the top 1-3 moments of your wedding day.
Erin: Basically having Stillwater to ourselves [because of COVID-19]. It was a beautiful spring day - it was super windy and the petals off of Bradford Pear trees were all over the place. It felt like nature's confetti was celebrating our wedding day. Besides being married in the church, we spent all day outside.
Chase: Walking around Stillwater at sunset. We even took a lap around campus and library lawn, and then sat talking at Theta pond until it was dark.
What do you think you'll remember the most from your wedding 50 years from now?
The feeling of excitement and trust - our plans didn't work out the way that we had planned. Our original wedding date was going to be March 28, 2020. We decided to move up the date—to March 19th— when we realized we couldn't have the large celebration we had planned. It was incredibly intimate and special. Because of the COVID-19 lockdown, we pretty much had Stillwater all to ourselves. It started out kind of like us against the world.
What details in your wedding did you incorporate that were deeply meaningful to the two of you? *
We love Stillwater, Oklahoma for many reasons - we both went to school at OSU and have fond memories of college. We also decided to drive to Stillwater from Oklahoma City about once a month to attend Pre-Cana with a longtime family friend and priest, Father O'Brien. We treated these as dates and would never leave without eating somewhere local to Stillwater and exploring campus. We created some really great memories there during our engagement - eloping there was a surprise but made total sense.
What is your date night/day go-to?
Cooking meals together and pretending to be mixologists - we put on records and enjoy good music, good food, and good drinks! We are patio people. This is definitely our most frequent date activity but we also enjoy hiking and recently started to have "wine and pallette" dates at home.
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What else would you like us to know about your story?
We had 7 people total at our wedding: a cantor, an organist, 2 witnesses (another priest and our photographer), our priest, each other, and two "mothers of the church" that Father O'Brien arranged to help Erin get ready and to open the Chapel doors.
Fun fact, my photographer, Sarah, was a sorority sister of mine at OSU! Alpha Chi Omega
How did you feel when you saw your spouse for the first time on your wedding day:
We actually rode together to Stillwater from Oklahoma City the morning of our wedding. Chase picked Erin up and then we made a couple stops - one to pick up smoothies from Organic Squeeze, another to get my bouquet at Whole Foods, and then to pick up Erin's wedding band at Mitchener-Farrand. Then we drove to the church, did a once through, got ready, and then got married! We were both super excited and we listened to wedding music all the way to Stillwater.
What were each of your thoughts when you met for the first time?
Erin: "He's special"
Chase: "I like the way she smiles"
Favorite local spots?
Barrio's, Empire Slice House, Sushi Neko, Republic, 21 C Hotel and Museum, Cheever's