You are my dearest friend.
My deepest love.
You are the best of me.
Finding love didn't come easy for Cristina and Dana. Their relationship is raw and it is real, and that's why their story is one of my favorites. It's not your traditional fairytale. It doesn't consist of high school sweethearts or bumping into each other on a busy street, one helping the other to pick up all the books that fell to the ground. Instead, it consists of two imperfect people who struggled to find love but ultimately came together to tell the most perfect love story of them all.
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Cristina met the father of her daughter the summer after graduating college. They fell in love instantly, things progressed rather fast and the two very quickly found themselves inseparable. As the months passed, their disagreements grew more common, their frustration with each other seemed unbearable and the two were so often left questioning their ability to make the relationship last. It wasn't long until Cristina was expecting her first child, which led the two to make the decision to marry. As her husband grew more and more abusive, it was ultimately his infidelity that caused them to divorce when their daughter was just five years old. This left Cristina broken as a single mom, unhopeful of ever finding true love.
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Dana had experienced a very similar struggle with love. His relationship with his children's mother was a long one, beginning right after high school when the two were just 18 years old. They married, agreed to start having children and had established their careers. Things started to go downhill when Dana started working long hours and his wife found herself falling in love with another man. Dana parted from his wife without hesitation and he knew in his heart that no matter what, he would do what was best for his children and always be the best father he could be.
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Both Dana and Cristina hated the dating world and the thought of starting all over seemed unbearable. They aren't the type of people who can be in and out of relationships. They both found themselves feeling used, hurt and not very hopeful of ever finding someone who was ultimately looking for the same thing. They distanced themselves from searching for the one. They focused on their careers and they started spending all of their spare time with their friends. The decision to join a dating website was one that lingered in their minds for months. Finally, they both decided they knew enough people who had found love this way and took the leap. After a month of mingling and chatting with no hope, Cristina decided she would deactivate her profile. Luckily, one last message came through before she did.
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Dana was her type, to a T. He wasn't much taller than her, he was handsome, he was an amazing father and he was such a hard worker. She remained skeptical but agreed to meet him at the local pub for a drink and a bite to eat. They discovered they shared so many interests, country music, playing pool, and watching scary movies being at the top of the list. Cristina was brunette, fun-loving, had the best smile Dana had ever seen and genuinely puts her daughter first and foremost. Though the thought of things being too good to be true danced in the back of their minds, they decided to focus on taking things one day at a time.
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Things weren't too good to be true. Dana is everything Cristina hoped for in her partner, and Cristina is Dana's better half. The two compliment each other the way true love should and they bring out the very best in one another. It's been a year and 3 days and on July 4th, under a firework-lit sky, Dana got down on one knee. Cristina accepted and ever since that day, the two can't wait to say "I do".
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The wedding is being held outdoors during the summer season on a large piece of land owned by Dana's best friend and co-worker. There is an old white barn perfectly placed in the middle. The ceremony will be held in the barn, with the large sliding doors open on both sides. The reception will be outside with a large, open, beautiful white tent as a back-up plan in case of rain. There will be tables and chairs set up under the tent if needed. Otherwise, the tables will sit under the large, beautiful trees, illuminated by string lights and lanterns. The mobile BBQ caterer will be setup in the distance as well, somewhat out of sight. There will be a dancefloor assembled alongside the stage where the band will play. Yard games will be arranged in the clearing, along with the bonfire, hay bales for sitting and roasting s'mores. Trees will provide enough shade to keep guests cool and out of the beating sun if needed. The atmosphere is simply perfect and exactly the way Dana and Cristina pictured it to be.
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Cristina and Dana wanted their wedding to be elegant, but still have that sort of casual, backyard-BBQ-type feel. Above all, the two love to have fun. The best memories are made when you're able to just be yourself, so the importance of incorporating all of their favorite things was high on the list of must-haves for this special day. Friends and family will depart feeling nothing short of joy and love for the couple and for each other. As they walk back down the path to leave the event, they'll look back at the beautifully lit trees, the subtle glow of the dying fire and the open sky, decorated perfectly with stars. Cristina and Dana will leave their wedding night, head home to pack and rest as they leave for Paris the following afternoon.
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It's often been said that you won't find love if you're searching for it. That love will find you when you least expect it. When you stop looking. And first and foremost, until you love yourself. And just as I have myself, Cristina and Dana have found this to be true. Fairytales aren't just in the storybooks, they don't always happen the way we wish they would, and often there is a long road of heartbreak you must travel down to get to where you're going. But no matter what, no matter how hard, trust in God's plan for you and know that there is something great waiting for you ahead. And the journey has only just begun...
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