Nick and Courtney met in July of 2017 at the Young Adults Ministry at Grand Rapids First Church. Courtney was interning there for the summer, which meant that Young Adults was pretty much her home away from home.
Gown Featured: NATASSIA | Enzoani
Drew, Nick's younger brother and Best Man, had been attending Young Adults and convinced Nick to tag along one week, and Courtney just so happened to be working in the check-in booth that night. Cue the slow motion and epic love song. Courtney got Nick registered in the system and moved on to help next first-time guests without thinking twice.
Gown Featured: NATASSIA | Enzoani
Nick had a different reaction. He leaned over to Drew and said, "I didn't know they were keeping THOSE here!" It also just so happened that small groups were being assigned that night, and because Courtney was both an intern and leader, she was in charge of running a small group. It didn't take Nick long to realize that he wanted to make sure he was assigned to her group, and that's exactly what he did. He placed himself confidently in the seat right next to her, where he proceeded to show up faithfully week after week.
Gown Featured: NATASSIA | Enzoani
It was during these weeks that Courtney struggled to stay focused on her leadership role instead of the cute boy who was (not at all subtly) flirting with her the entire time. It went on like that for months. Nick would flirt, and Courtney would throw a smile or two his way, with no intention of their relationship ever becoming more than that. Boy, was she wrong.
Nick started to integrate himself into her circle of friends, and Nick and Courtney began to get to know each other better over the next couple of months. It was during this time that they got in the habit of sitting in his truck and talking about anything and everything.
They talked about their past experiences, dreams, and goals. Nick was very quickly becoming a part of Courtney's life that was much more than just a friend. Between late-night phone calls and attending family parties together, it was pretty evident to everyone, except Courtney, that they were dating.
Gown Featured: NATASSIA | Enzoani
Next came the dreaded ultimatum. While Courtney was loving this whole practically-having-a-boyfriend-without-actually-being-in-an-official-relationship thing, Nick was not having it, and he decided to put his foot down. During one of their late-night talks in his truck, Nick laid down the law. He told Courtney that she had experienced what it was like to have him as a boyfriend and what it was like to have him as a friend, but that she could no longer have both; she needed to pick.
Gown Featured: NATASSIA | Enzoani
Needless to say, that got Courtney's attention. She (awkwardly) got out of his truck and into her own car. As soon as she pulled out of the parking lot, she began to cry (like a baby, I might add) the whole way to her apartment. It was in that moment that she knew that she couldn't go any longer without him being an official part of her life.
Gown Featured: NATASSIA | Enzoani
From that moment on, Nick and Courtney became inseparable. Nick asked Courtney to be his girlfriend on New Year's Eve (at a super cute bridge that was all lit up. He crushed it). They continued to date for about three months until Courtney (accidentally) brought up marriage.
Gown Featured: NATASSIA | Enzoani
One night, Nick, being a lover of cars, was talking about how he wanted to have a bunch of cool cars someday so that his son could go in the garage before a date and pick which one he wanted to go pick up his girl in. Without even thinking, Courtney blurted out, "Our son isn't dating until he's at least 25!".
Gown Featured: NATASSIA | Enzoani
Her comment was met with about thirty seconds of silence until Nick said through a smirk, "Oh, OUR son, huh?". Needless to say, that opened up the door for the 'big talk'. Before they knew it, they were out shopping for an engagement ring!
Gown Featured: NATASSIA | Enzoani
Nick proposed to Courtney on May 11, 2018 with the most perfect proposal including a surprise engagement party immediately after he popped the question. He told her that they were headed to the Amway Grand Plaza for a work celebration for one of his sisters-in-law, when in reality, he had a surprise planned.
Gown Featured: NATASSIA | Enzoani
He took her up to the very top of the building, and asked her to spend the rest of her life with him. He had her family waiting in the other room along with a photographer capturing the whole thing. From there, he took her to a surprise engagement party with all of their family and close friends!
_370_370_int_s_c1.png)
_370_370_int_s_c1.png)
