When my kids were younger, my husband made a treasure hunt for them for Christmas. They came downstairs and instead of presents, they found a note. It was an incredibly easy riddle, like, a 6 year old’s riddle. It led them to the next clue, and eventually after 5 or 6 pit stops, they had collected all of their presents. For the next few months the kids wanted to do nothing more than to make maps and riddles and hide our things, so they could share the “joy” of the treasure hunt with us. The presents were a distant second to “the search”.

For those of you who don’t know, Daryl and Julie are the life of the party. Not just “the” party, probably “any” party. So when Daryl proposed to Julie, he planned out a couple waypoints in a Geocache hiking treasure hunt for the two of them and two of their friends to go on. The plan was spectacular, the view at the end, beautiful, and instead of the last geocache, Julie would turn around to find Daryl on one knee while overlooking a river at sunset. Long story short, not everything went to plan, and some timing issues were had, and Julie figured out what was happening just before turning away so Daryl could get down on one knee, and couldn’t bring herself to turn around because she already knew what was coming. You know, all the best things that come together to make a great story and a great memory. In the end, they walked away as fiancés. The treasure at the end of their journey, was a question and an answer.

Daryl and Julie’s engagement adventure started with a series of waypoints and steps that led them to the treasure of an important question and answer (the proposal and acceptance). Marriage is sort of an inverted version of that though. With marriage, you have an important question and answer at the beginning (the vows), and then the real treasure of marriage is all the waypoints and milestones you journey through thereafter. Every day you can wake up knowing that the timing… might not be perfect. The hike… might be a bit steeper than you at first expected. One of you might even have a hard time taking the next step that needs to be taken for a few seconds. Whatever your day brings, whatever the waypoints you encounter, you get to find them together. I wish for you the same thing my kids found that Christmas - so much joy in the journey that you almost “need” to share your joy with everyone around you. Each moment, each step, each pause, you can savor experiencing them together. Treasured moments for the rest of your lives.

Daryl and Julie got married in our little corner of the world, right here in Lititz at the Lititz Trinity Church and had their reception at the Lititz Springs Inn and Spa. Their day couldn’t have been more beautiful, but it was also filled with a ton of fun. I can honestly say I’ve never had a couple hire a bagpiper to lead the wedding procession from the ceremony to the reception venue. Walking through Lititz with a bagpiper was… awesome. We also had to ask a 5 year old at one point if we could borrow his playground train for a wedding party photo. This group had me laughing and smiling the whole day. Enjoy this little recap of Daryl and Julie’s wedding!

After Daryl and Julie’s First Look, we grabbed the whole bridal party and wandered around my favorite small town of Lititz for more pictures before the ceremony. I think the temperature reached the upper 80’s that afternoon, which was super hot for mid-October in Pennsylvania, but this crew kept it fun despite the heat!

The bagpiper led the wedding guests through town and then stopped outside the reception venue, The Lititz Springs Inn & Spa, while everyone filtered in for a super fun Gatsby-themed reception, which was so cool! This reception was full of so many great things, from the antique decor, to the heartfelt speeches, including a tag-team double toast by Julie’s brothers, a hilarious round of the shoe game, glowsticks to make the party even more fun, and so much great dancing! Daryl and Julie certainly know how to throw a good party!!