AMY + MICHAEL STEP INTO THE LIMELIGHT
GRAND HYATT TAMPA BAY + THE FLORIDA AQUARIUM | TAMPA, FL

How We Met

It all started on a little app you may have heard of called Tinder, where we both swiped right and were deemed a ‘match’. Amy had a few facts about herself in her profile, one of which was “division 1 college athlete”. Mike sent Amy a message which said “I’m guessing you played volleyball in college right? I knew it”. Amy told him that was not correct so he asked if he could ask a couple more questions to help narrow it down and then guess again. Those questions were:

1. Pancakes or waffles?

2. At the beach do you hang out in the sand or water all day?

3. Who is your favorite super hero?

Even though Mike lost at guessing which sport Amy played, his humor was a winner. About 2 weeks later we would meet in person for the first time, at a bar near where we live called Ale House. Mike’s witty banter, Amy’s love of sports, and an effortless conversation was enough to warrant a second date. Mike chose the Kansas City Zoo for this date, which was fun and unique enough to impress Amy once again. After the zoo, we shared our first meal together at Season’s 52 (important fact for later). They are goofy, competitive, analytical, up for adventure. They enjoy travel, golf, volleyball, thrill-seeking activities, problem solving games, board games, drinking beer, lawn games, having fun! Amy is still bitter that Mike only lived in Kansas City for 2 weeks before they met (lucky guy), but nonetheless, the rest is history!

The Proposal

Back in March 2017, Mike lost a bet with Amy over the TV show The Bachelor. He owed her 2 fully planned date nights. The first date happened soon after, but with moving and a new house, the second one fell to the back burner. Randomly over Thanksgiving and again at a holiday party, the fact that he still owed her a second date night got brought up. The day after the holiday party we had holiday pictures taken, and several people had suspected he would propose during those, since we already had a camera there and ready! However, nothing happened. Amy was convinced there was no way he would propose before 2018. Two days after the pictures, Mike told Amy he was going to pay up on the date night that Wednesday. He told her they were going to go to Up-Down (a local arcade bar), dinner, and then do an athletic activity. After Up-Down, Mike told Amy they were going to Seasons 52 for dinner (cue important fact from earlier). When walking up to the restaurant, Amy tried to turn right to head toward the restaurant door and Mike continued to walk straight. We bumped into each other. Mike said “Come over here, let’s look at the Plaza lights”. At this point, Amy knew something was up. It was cold outside, we were late for our reservation (Mike hates being late), and Mike doesn’t really like Christmas lights. As we approach the fountain that’s outside of the restaurant, Mike says his knee hurts and gets down on one knee to propose. Right then, the first flash from the photographer goes off. Yep, that's right, Mike hired another photographer just 4 days after we had pictures taken. Once we get inside, Amy is surprised one more time when she sees her parents sitting at the table (she didn’t know they were in town). Oh, and there was no athletic activity after, that was just a decoy. Mike really pulled off the surprise, which is not easy to do! Amy’s engagement ring has 2 center stones, the large one is her maternal grandmothers wedding stone and the small one is his paternal grandmothers wedding stone.

Their wedding was beautiful to witness with two people that are a perfect fit for each other celebrating their love and having fun with all their family and friends while doing it. Amy has always loved water and fish, and she was a college platform diver. They saw penguins on their second date together, and picked The Florida Aquarium for the awesome, unique, fun, modern, cool background. The favorite part of their day was getting married to their perfect match while surrounded by those they love most in front of a super cool aquarium and having a great time. Oh, and the SURPRISE PENGUINS! A truly magical day that left everyone feeling like they were having fun, surrounded by love in a whimsical atmosphere underwater!

Lead Photographer | Cheyenne Roth
Assistant Photographer | RJ Ricketts

AMY + MICHAEL STEP INTO THE LIMELIGHTGRAND HYATT TAMPA BAY + THE FLORIDA AQUARIUM | TAMPA, FL

AMY + MICHAEL STEP INTO THE LIMELIGHT
GRAND HYATT TAMPA BAY + THE FLORIDA AQUARIUM | TAMPA, FL