AMANDA & DONALD

Photos by
Made in the Mountains Photo and 1830 Photography

Our Story...

Donald (Tré) and I met in Las Vegas, where both were living and working. We made an instant connection over being so far from home, me being from New York and him being from Virginia. We also bonded over our shared interest in the outdoors, traveling, and of course, his dogs! Our relationship continued over the next six years, despite our demanding careers, job relocations, military moves, training, and deployments. All our free time was spent exploring the western United States from Texas to California. Mainly looking for good places to hike and play frisbee with our dogs.

In 2021, Tre’s career as a fighter pilot brought us to Germany. Germany quickly became very special to us. It was where we first lived together, where Tré proposed (Burg Landshut, a castle in Bernkastel-Kues), and where we held a small wedding ceremony on June 10, 2023 in the Bavarian Alps (Garmisch-Partenkirchen) surrounded by immediate family. Our time in Europe will always hold a special place in our hearts.

However, Saratoga Springs was where I was born and raised, and where I had always envisioned getting married. So, we felt we would save the fun part of a wedding, the reception, for my hometown of Saratoga Springs. We held our "Happily Ever After" party at The 408 Event and Occasion on July 22, 2023. The event was an incredible way to celebrate with family and friends, and to experience downtown Saratoga Springs on a beautiful summer night during track season.

Advice to pass along...  

It's your day. Plan your wedding the way that feels right to you. We went a nontraditional route of envelopment/micro-wedding. I didn't love the idea of a big traditional wedding. I was much more comfortable in our micro-wedding setting with only 10 guests. We had a small ceremony with immediate family, and then my husband and I went off to take photos with our photographer in the German Alps, followed by a nice private family dinner. This allowed my husband and I to spend more time with each other and our closest loved ones on our wedding day, and gave us a lot more flexibility with our schedule. We still wanted to celebrate with friends and family, but we saved that for a later date. By separating the two events, we got to have our special day at our pace and saved the fun part (the reception) for our friends and family back in the US.

Special Touches 

We included our dogs in our wedding day and it made our day so much more special. They are part of our family and it was the best decision to have them there to celebrate with us.