So their dream starts 10 + years ago...  Levi and Brooke went to the same high school, but did not really know each other.  Levi was a couple years older than Brooke.  They were both very outgoing social kids  They had some of the same friends and were at the same events but still did not officially meet.  As the years went by they would occasionally cross paths but never would actually get to know each other.  Then one Friday night in late March of 2007 their dream took a turn...  Their high school has an alumni weekend where past graduates get together and play in a basketball tournament and a volleyball tournament.  After Friday nights activities the alums head up to the local restaurant to eat and socialize.  Once again they were at the same place with all of our friends hanging out.  Levi noticed how stunning Brooke looked that evening.  So Levi went up to a couple of Brooke's friends and started to inquire about her.  Her friends let Levi know that she is single but he has no chance.   So for Levi it was good news and bad news, for Brooke if only she knew her dream was about to start.  Levi knew he had a chance and he was going to take that chance that night.  Levi and Brooke ended up playing a game of pool together and started conversing.  After a couple games they really started hitting it off.  The next day they had more games up at the high school and Levi watched Brooke play a little and she watched him play some.  Levi knew then that this could be something great but was still unsure.  Brooke was still unsure also and still unaware of what she was getting into.  They finished up the weekend of activities and went back to their lives.  Levi lived in Council Bluffs and Brooke lived in Iowa City.  That next week Levi had a feeling about Brooke and didn't want to give up just because she lived 4 hours away.  They would talk on the phone a couple times but nothing too serious.  Levi decided that Thursday he was going to drive to Iowa City for the weekend and surprise her.  Boy was she surprised to see him at her door step Friday evening.  Luckily she did not have plans.  They hung out all weekend and really hit it off.  Over the next couple months Brooke moved to Council Bluffs and started working for Council Bluffs Schools.  

 

   After a couple years of dating Levi thought it was time to take another chance.  After talking to his father and Brooke's father he went out and bought a ring.  They talked about marriage a couple times but not too often.  He didn't want to bring it up too much because he wanted this to be a total surprise.  Levi and Brooke love playing games, crosswords, board games, and cards.  They also love going out to eat.  Levi thought to put these 2 thing together and BAM! got the idea on how he was going to ask her.  She was coming home from coaching softball on a Wednesday late afternoon.  Brooke called Levi and asked what they were going to do for dinner.  Levi told her that he has a game for her when she got home to figure out where to eat.  Levi plays silly games on Brooke all the time so she was like ok whatever.  He took the scrabble game out of the closet and made 2 piles of letters.  Brooke got home and Levi insisted she play the game right when she walked in the door no shower don't change clothes just play.  The game was he had 2 piles of letters mixed up.  Each of the piles would spell out a restaurant then Brooke would decide what one to go to.  What she was about to learn was they didn't spell out 2 restaurants.  The first pile spelled out their favorite restaurant and the second one well it didn't take her long to figure it out but it spelled "Will You Marry Me".  Brooke was totally surprised and didn't see this coming at all.  Levi was on his knee behind her the whole time with the ring.  She said yes and then the water works started.  They did end up going out to eat also after they called their parents and friends.

 

Being unsure of where to have the wedding and reception they started checking out churches, halls, and country clubs.  One thing that they didn't want was a lot of stress leading up to and the day of the wedding.  A friend told them about the Fountains Ballroom so they went to check it out.  Dustin greeted them and they were instantly wow'd by the ballroom and the services they offered.  With only 1 Saturday open in the summer of 2010 Levi knew he had to make 1 more chance.  He told Dustin they would take it. 

 

We feel like in a couple months while standing at the fountains in front of our family and friends that our dream will finally come true, but we realize the dream will not end that day but it will actually just begin.

 

Thanks to all at the Fountains for helping us with our dream!!

 

Levi & Brooke

 

!!!!!!!!!*S*P*E*C*I*A*L*!!!!!!!!

 

$450.00 Special on the house lodging until March 7th. ( Returning to $650 on March 8th) $100.00Booking Fee to reserve the house lodging.

 

Shuttle is $500.00 for 5hours if booked on or prior to March 7th

(Shuttle will be $550.00 if booked on or after March 8th) $100.00 Booking Fee to reserve the Shuttle On or before March 7th

 

You Save if you book the Shuttle and house lodging as a package. The booking fee to secure both for your date will be $150.00 if booked together.

 

The package rate is $950.00 for both services if booked after March 7th the package price / individual price will be $1200.00

 

S*A*V*I*N*G*S of  $250.00 

On September 19^th 2009 I was on my way to my fiance’s house for  a get together with my sister and brother-in-law.  I told my fiance, Ryan, I would come over a little early to help clean the basement and I was running a little late but I figured it was no big deal.  When I got to his house I couldn’t figure out where he was, the house was so quiet. I ran into his brother who is normaly very open and goofy. He was acting really quiet and he wouldn’t meet my eyes which I thought was very odd. I asked him where Ryan was and he said he didn’t  have any idea and booked it out of the room. Ok, well whatever. I started to go down stairs because I decided that was the only place left he could be. As I started to walk down the stairs there were candles everywhere! My first thought was “this is really fancy for a get together to watch “The Office”. The candles made a path all the way through the room, so many candles! Every surface of the room was covered in candles. I asked him later how many and he said about one hundred and thirty. The path lead through the room to the tv and Ryan was standing there in dress pants, a dress shirt, a vest and a bow tie. He looked wonderful! I really just thought he was being sweet. He always does special things like this for me but I was still confused. As soon as I made it to where he was standing this video started to play on the big screen and it was pictures of us together set to music. It was so wonderful standing there while he held me and we watched the video. I still had no idea what was going on. I just figured after the video we would clean it up and continue on with the evening and “The Office”. I didn’t finally get it until the end of the video when across the screen it said “Will you make me the luckiest?” and I turned to look at Ryan and he was getting on his knee. He pulled out the ring and I just started crying tears of joy. He asked me to marry him and spend my life with him. It took me completely by surprise because just days before he had told me not to expect a ring for a few months because of school and other things. I couldn’t really talk so I nodded and sort of said yes! As soon as that happened he stood up and hugged and kissed me and he ran upstairs and everyone  who was conveniently waiting in the kitchen just errupted with cheers! It was very cool. My sister and brother-in-law showed up as we were blowing out the candles. We celebrated the rest of the night with snacks and our show.

 It is exactly 79 weeks until the big day, July 2^nd 2011, (I made a paper chain) so we decided we had plenty of time to take dancing lessons. We are hoping to learn to swing dance so at our reception when it is time for our first dance together as husband and wife we can surprise all our guests and relatives with a show.

One thing I just couldn’t leave out is the video he made me as a valentine’s day gift. He is always so sweet and romantic. Ryan is extremely creative and has a talent for lip syncing so he made me a video of him singimg all these different songs that remind him of me and it is so amazing. I watch it all the time. After seeing this you will understand why I just thought he was being sweet when he proposed because it’s not out of the ordinary for him to treat me and do things like that. He’s my knight in shining armor.

 Trish and Mark, A Wink and A Smile
Like most little girls, I dreamed of someday being married and having a beautiful wedding. But as I got older, I re-evaluated that dream and realized I didn’t want to be married just because “that’s what you do.” I wanted to wait til I found my very best friend.
Then, as I got even older, I started having recurring dreams that were more like nightmares. At night I would dream of rushed weddings and being thrown down the aisle against my will. I didn’t have a chance to pick out any of the wedding details, not even the groom. The “Big Day” would happen without a lot of the things a girl looks forward to, like having your dad walk you down the aisle or putting a veil in your hair. After I started having these recurring dreams, getting married moved from being a beautiful possibility and goal for my life to a nightmare and something that struck fear in my inner-being. After my fear of snakes, marriage became my biggest fear!
These wedding nightmares continued for years. I began to think they possibly meant that marriage just wasn’t for me. I kept convincing myself of that as I watched most of my friends get married over the last few years. Maybe I just wasn’t the marrying type.
A few years ago, I hit the “Big 3-0”, and I was single. That was not part of the dream when I was a little girl. In 30 years, I had still not found anyone I was willing to overcome my fear for. But there was something about flipping that decade that made me think, “It’s either now or never, so I better make the most of every opportunity.” I signed up for an online dating service and sent out a “wink” to a guy with a fabulous smile and an interesting profile. He winked back and thought I had a really great smile and an equally intriguing profile. We began emailing, and you know if someone can make you laugh over an email, they’ll be able to make you laugh even more in person! Plus, we realized we knew multiple people in common and were surprised our paths hadn’t crossed before (or maybe they had and we just didn’t know it)! So we arranged to meet in-person as a mutual acquaintance was playing at a local coffee shop. We spent the rest of that night walking side by side around the Old Market and talking for hours. Mark hasn’t left my side since that night two and a half years ago.
Somewhere in those two years and many hours of conversation, he has become a part of my soul. He became my best friend without my realizing it. He became the One I’ve waited for since I was a little girl. And even though it’s taken us two years for me to triumph over my nightmares, Mark has become the One I’m willing to overcome my fears for to walk through life together. I can’t wait to live out this dream with him and to someday have “babies with big smiles” together. It just goes to show that even when you’ve started giving up, your dream can begin with a wink and a smile (which, coincidently, is the song we will be dancing to as husband and wife, “Wink and a Smile”).
PS-With The Fountains gang running our day, I know it will be beautiful. And I am confident they won’t let me forget to put on my veils or have my dad walk me down the aisle!

I called Levi, my now fiance,  during the week and told him I wanted to have a date night on Saturday and go to dinner, etc. He said sure, and stated he'd make reservations at P.F. Chang's (our favorite restaurant). So on Saturday, we arrive at P.F. Chang's. "We have reservations at 5:00." Immediately the host reply's with, "Oh Levi, yes, right this way." Me thinking wow, that was a quick response, maybe we're the only ones with a 5:00 reservation. So we order food, drinks, etc. We chit-chat like normal. He of course is texting people, but more than usual... Then our food comes, and as soon as the food is set on the table, he has to use the restroom...odd. So he comes back and we eat. We finish dinner, the waiter asks if we'd like desert..and we both said no. So the waiter brings us the check. As Levi is paying, the hostess walks up and puts a pretty big box on the table and says, "Here's desert!" Wait a minute, we didn't order desert... So Levi slides it over to me and says to open it. I start to open it and see that it is a HUGE fortune cookie. As I'm opening it I think to myself, could this be it? Is he really going to ask me? But immediately I shoot down my thoughts because Levi had told me before he was going to tease me a bunch of times before actually asking me. So I continue opening the fortune cookie, read the fortune (which he came up with the saying) and as soon as I'm done reading, I look over and he's on his knee holding my ring! He asks, of course I start crying and all I could do was cover my mouth and shake my head. After crying, I finally said yes. The waiter then came over with 2 glasses of Champagne and strawberries! It was perfect!!! Everyone was so happy and congratulating us! So all along, he had this planned, but here I thought I had planned this little dinner date. Oh and his little bathroom trip -> he went to call his friend, Bryan, who had been sitting outside the WHOLE time waiting to bring in the cookie to the hostess table at just the right moment! So a big thanks goes to our usher, Bryan!

So from our engagement, I decided I wanted to include fortune cookies somewhere in our Wedding as a nice connection to our engagement. I thought as our favor to everyone we could hand out fortune cookies to everyone. With my suggestion of fortune cookies, my fiance then comes up with the idea of having Chinese food at the reception. At first, I laughed and thought he was joking. Come to find out he was serious! So we called around and luckily enough one of the caterers on The Fountain's list can do Chinese food! I'm super excited his little (well big) idea of a fortune cookies for his proposal is being used for so much our Wedding. And I can't wait to see our how people react to our 'off the wall' idea for Chinese food!

P.S. The fortune cookie in our picture is the actual cookie from our engagement on July 28th, 2008.

~Kristi & Levi~

We are going back through some of our favorite events .... Twee sang and danced at her reception... I wish we had video of that!!!!!  ect>