I’ve always thought that Jana was a fun person.
That certainly shows through her love story and her “big day” when she married Chris!
Jana approached her wedding with an amazing balance of sincerity, maturity, graciousness, and good old fashioned fun! Her creativity really shone through on the little details, personalizing the wedding and making it truly a day of shared happiness.
Read on about her love story and wedding day below!
Terra Verde Bride: How did you first meet Chris?
You could say that Chris and I met in person in March 2010. Or you could say that we met online in October 2009. But it’s much more exciting to say that we met in January 1999, at his sister’s wedding in Phoenix!
Of course, with that, I have to share the details. His sister, Brook, published a magazine and I was a contributing writer for many years. We also exchanged letters back and forth. My mom and I made the trip from Wisconsin to Arizona for her late January wedding in 1999 and we met her family – including a young man named Chris, who was a year older than me. We didn’t chat much, but I thought he was generally nice, and rather cute! (Seventeen year olds can be so impressionable!) Nothing happened during that weekend visit, however. Ours lives went on, Brook and I lost touch over the years, and I blazed into my 20’s with various children’s ministries, nanny jobs, and travels.
In the summer of 2009, my parents convinced me to try an online “dating” site for Reformed Christian singles. Was I (we?) desperate for a husband? Well, I wouldn’t say so. Call it more of attempting to broaden horizons. I was happy enough in my single life! But marriage was something I did feel the Lord had in my future.
I was on this website for about 4 months, when around mid-October 2009 I got a short note from a new guy. He signed his name “Chris Tingom” and I was like, “Oh wow, is this seriously THE Chris I knew over 10 years ago??” (He did not know who I was, I only had a screen name visible on my profile.) It was indeed, and we exchanged e-mails on and off into early 2010.
Chris was just as gentlemanly and charming as I had remembered in 1999, and the more we e-mailed, the more I realized how similar our interests and life goals were. Frankly, I liked him! It was unclear if he liked me, however, and so the day before Valentine’s Day (it had nothing to do with the holiday, I promise!) I asked. If he liked me too, then maybe we needed to move forward; if not, then I needed to hold back on communicating because I could easily see my heart becoming too involved.
Chris didn’t make me wait long. He wrote back quickly and said yes, he was interested in me! He wanted to chat with my dad a bit, and then come visit in the next month, to see if we got along in person as well as in our e-mails. That weekend meeting was set for March 2010 – and yep, you guessed it, we started courting on March 13, 2010.
Terra Verde Bride: When did you know that he was ‘the one’?
Honestly, I knew Chris was ‘the one’ from the beginning. When we started courting, everyone was in agreement that, barring any surprises that appeared, we aimed to be engaged by the summer and married in the fall. I didn’t feel at any point that we were moving too fast. When you’re almost 29 and 30 and God makes it clear, why wait?
In early May, Chris began dropping hints that he would be proposing very soon. I was crazy excited, of course, but it also made me seriously consider what was ahead.
Did I love this man?
YES.
Did I want to spend the rest of my life with him?
YES – and I was unsure.
Not that Chris gave me any reason to doubt. I think I just had a moment of reality, of my mind catching up with my heart, and I wanted to be able to say with complete confidence that this was God’s will, that I wasn’t simply going off emotions.
I voiced my uncertainty to a close friend and she wisely gave no personal advice. She just encouraged me to seek the Lord for that confidence.
For a week, I prayed and sought the Lord and came out renewed in what my heart saying – YES.
Terra Verde Bride: How did you get engaged?
My parents and I flew down to Phoenix in late May 2010 – I went a few days before them and stayed a day later. It was fun to see Chris’ house, re-meet his parents, visit coffee shops that he had mentioned, and soak up the sunshine. I could easily see myself living down here!
Chris had put together a basic schedule for our visit, which included a special dinner on Saturday.
(Hmmmm, I wonder what that means?)
On Friday afternoon, however, Chris sat us all down in the living room and with a huge smile said, “Well, I lied – the special dinner is tonight! I’m going to leave and get ready, and then be back at 6pm to pick up Jana.”
Sneaky, eh?
We all went to a beautiful restaurant for dinner, and the parents sat separate (and across the room!) from us. I determined from the beginning NOT to play detective; I would just let the evening happen as he wanted and curb any curiosity. We had a lovely dinner, talking and injecting frequent “I love you”’s, and ordered dessert. Chris then asked me to scoot out of our corner booth so he could use the restroom. I thought that was odd, since he could’ve easily exited from his end.
But I obliged… and in the very short time it took me to stand up and turn around… he was on one knee!
I honestly don’t remember a word he said. I do remember saying, “Oh Chris!” and touching his face and loving those twinkling brown eyes even more. I definitely remember him opening a black box holding a sparkling diamond ring and asking, “Jana, will you marry me?” And I will always remember saying “Yes!” and receiving the ring and hugging and crying – and the large party of 16 people next to us bursting into applause!
The restaurant was part of a resort that offered gondola rides. So we were serenaded on a peaceful lake by Italian love songs to end our perfect engagement evening. I’ll always remember May 28.
Terra Verde Bride: What was your favorite part about planning your wedding? Any hacks that you can share with other brides?
We very quickly set our wedding date for September 4, 2010 – just over 3 months from engagement (98 days!). Not a lot of time there, and even less when I also was traveling to Europe for 3 weeks and quitting my nanny job and packing up all my belongings in my apartment to move. Life was not dull that summer!
My mom was a great help, a wedding coordinator of sorts, making phone calls and arrangements while I worked. I would highly recommend that every bride have a sort of wedding coordinator – a family member, a friend, a hired professional if needed – to keep some stress off your own shoulders. I was very involved in the planning process, but found that having a go-between enabled me to focus more on the special day, relationships, and the future.
I think one of my favorite parts of wedding planning was setting all my years of dreams into motion. I had a dress designed for years, and one of my best friends (an amazing seamstress) set to work immediately. I loved visualizing what would soon be reality! I enjoyed shopping for sales (Hobby Lobby sales became my friend!), even making the budget work. I knew what I wanted, and making it happen was enjoyable.
I would encourage all brides-to-be to make The Day shine with their own uniqueness and creativity. Think outside the box! Children are so precious to me, and I was tickled pink to set aside a time after our ceremony to hand out a white or burgundy balloon to each little one that attended. It may have added $30 extra to our expenses, but it was me. And it made for great pictures! Whether with favors or decorations or bridesmaid dresses or music, creativity makes everything shine
Terra Verde Bride: What is your least favorite part about planning the wedding? What would you do differently if you could do it all over again?
I honestly don’t think I had a “least favorite part” about wedding planning. I had my moments of stress – probably the biggest was the day before, when our original outdoor location was too flooded, and Chris and I had to review and choose another park (and secure it with the city). But the second location actually worked better than the first! God knew what was needed most. My mom was an incredible help in the planning process, and I had the most amazing friends ever who helped with food prep the day before, and numerous little things on The Day. Without them all, I would’ve been lost!
Terra Verde Bride: What is your favorite moment from your wedding, if you could pick just one?
The entire day was beautiful. Not perfect, but rather just what a wedding day should be – a celebration of marriage with family and friends. God had granted a dream come true. I was just happy to finally experience it, to have my closest friends stand beside me as witnesses.
I think I would choose the moment when Chris and I walked up the aisle as husband and wife. I was above to explode from happiness! We skipped behind a couple trees to kiss (which our amazing photographer, Evy, was able to capture) and exclaim, “I can’t believe we’re MARRIED!!” Yes, I would’ve loved to slip away and just be with Chris. But I also wanted to fellowship with the near 200 guests that came to witness our day.
Happiness is meant to be shared!
Republished by Blog Post Promoter
