Our Story, in her words

After having shared a handful of classes and many mutual friends during our high school career, it was during a choir period our final year at Prospect that David and I first shared our first extensive conversation. We both remember being surprised at the commonality of our current situations and the pleasant feeling of having taken part in a random but wonderful conversation.

A few months later, David approached me and asked me to go to lunch with him and a few friends. I refused, (lamely) intimidated at the thought of accepting the invitation. That night, however, I could not avoid the nagging desire to call him. So, in a very uncharacteristic move, I picked up the phone and dialed his number. That call would change my life.

We were on the phone for hours that night. Though we were, for the most part, still strangers, we felt compelled to share our lives and hearts with each other. The weekend after the first phone call, I accepted David’s invitation to go to church with him. That invitation soon turned into one to go to Camp Harvest with the high school ministry. Though I was nervous and hesitant, David was persistent. I was on my way.

His fractured ankle ended up being one of the hugest blessings of the weekend. While others ran outside through the camp, I stayed with David as he was stranded inside the chapel. We sat as two people, strangely and inexplicably drawn to one another, despite our lack of interest in dating.

At that point, I had always attended church and believed in God; but I felt as though there was just something missing from my “religious habits.” In my great friend I saw something that I wanted for myself—a joy and a life that I desired but just couldn’t figure out. David, however, pointed me to Jesus and explained to me that it wasn’t about my beliefs but rather my relationship with God. He showed me that I was a sinner in need of a Savior. Later that night, I accept Christ and began my walk with the Lord.

Though David and I barely hung out, the time log of our phone conversations continued to grow exponentially. Our friendship quickly morphed into a best friendship. Whether he was calling just to check on me or to share some encouraging Scripture, David consistently showed he cared. I had no other friend like him except that which I found in Jesus Christ.

Although our pure intentions had led us not to expect to ever date, the time we spent together following my return from U of I after the first term led to the beginning of our relationship on January 1, 2006.

Our solid best friendship and already-existing foundation of our relationship in Jesus Christ allowed us to have a very rich and blessed dating life. Despite the many circumstantial challenges we were faced with during our three years of dating—encounters with deaths of loved ones and a constant stream of change in locations and situations—God allowed us to grow immensely both individually and together.

After two and a half years of dating, David asked me to marry him on July 30, 2008. We began our life as one six months later.

Dress- David’s Bridal (ordered online at www.davidsbridal.com)

Shoes- Mary Jane Crocs (Maggie’s Mom’s name was Mary Jane, and she wanted to be comfortable for the entire day!)

Rings- Wyatt Austin Jewelers (www.wyattaustin.com – We highly recommend them!) ; Rogers and Holland’s (www.rogersandhollands.com)
Ceremony- Harvest Bible Chapel – Rolling Meadows (www.harvestrollingmeadows.org)

Flowers- Purchased in bulk from A Perfect Petal (Mt. Prospect, IL – www.aperfectpetal.com)
-arranged by Maggie’s aunt, Deanna LeRose

Reception- Maggiano’s (Skokie, IL — www.maggianos.com)

Tuxes- Formally Modern Tuxedo

Cake – Jewel-Osco (www.JewelOsco.com – Low cost and delicious… even after we unfroze it on our one year anniversary!)

Photographers- Rich and Leeann Chang (they’re brilliant.. use them!!!)

To see more of this set click here!

We here at Chang² Studios strive to provide a better experience. In fact, those who compare our prices against those at a typical mall store may find that the mall store costs much more in the end for an inferior product!

Our friend Patrick is a talented actor with a great sense of humor.  For his role in the previous show, “A Christmas Carol”, he had grown out his hair. But his next show required him to cut it shorter, so he wanted to preserve some images of this look for his portfolio.

We wanted a clean, simple look that would showcase Patrick. To start with, we used a white seamless background. For lighting, we used a single key light shot through an umbrella, a background light (which was converted to a hair light for a few shots), and a reflector.

It’s always fun to photograph actors and actresses, because of the variety of looks and expressions they bring. We had a great time working with Patrick!

Patrick can currently be seen in “Funny Girl”, playing at the Drury Lane Oakbrook through March 7, 2010.

The beautiful location of the Redfield Estates in Glenview IL

Our outdoor ceremony

My wonderful husband & I getting a chance to relax

DIY decorations

My cute cute cousin as our flower girl

My beautiful bridesmaids

Our wonderful wedding party

The best day of my life so far!

If you would like to see the rest of our wedding collection photos please click here.

All of the photography is by Kenny Nakai at nakaiphotography.com

I love the fall colors, but sadly, they last but a short while. We found these beautiful maples outside our place. Leeann suggested that we take photos of them, and I thought I could do it later. The next day, we had cameras with us since we were returning from a family photo session. Again, we saw the trees. This time, I took a few shots before going inside. And I’m glad I did, because the next time I looked, the leaves were gone.

I originally thought to title this post “Carpe Diem”, until I looked up the wikipedia entry which brings up the existential connotations of a life without faith (”Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” – 1 Corinthians 15:32)

Tell us about finding your wedding dress:
I found my dress before I was engaged. I knew that a proposal was coming any day, but I was determined not to make any major decisions before I had a ring. However, the fun of looking for dresses with my mom was too enticing an idea to resist. I did not plan on trying on any of the dresses, we were simply going to look to see what was out there and what I liked. Approximately 2 minutes after walking into the store I saw my dress and I fell in love with it immediately. I then decided that maybe it was not such a terrible idea to try on dresses that day–but I did not buy it that day. We came back with my sister a week later and confirmed that it was indeed the perfect dress. I was still determined not to purchase a dress until I had a ring on my finger, but as I reluctantly changed out of the dress that day, I heard my mother telling the sales lady to go ahead and ring it up. So I had a dress before I had a ring. The ring came about a week later.

Describe your wedding flowers:
The date of our wedding was determined by the time in which the lilies of the valley would be blooming. Since fifth grade I knew I wanted tons of Lilly of the valley and lilacs at my wedding, so when I got to junior high, my mom started growing a patch of Lilly of the valley. The afternoon before the wedding my bridesmaids and I gathered our bouquets from the backyard and filled the garage with bouquets and buckets of lilies of the valley, lilacs, honeysuckle, tulips, and violets. We purchased two dozen tulips from the grocery store, but the rest of the flowers came from our yard, neighbors’ yards and the side of the road. My aunts arranged the flowers in vases from thrift stores and my mom’s cabinets. It was simple and lovely–and it smelled heavenly.

Tell us about your wedding cake/cupcakes:
My mom made all of our cupcakes the day before the wedding. She practiced and tried recipes for months in advance. She and her sisters arranged them on platters and placed violets on each cupcake just before the wedding. It was a great deal of work, but they looked beautiful and tasted wonderful.

What was the most memorable moment of your wedding day?
Dave’s response: Seeing Missy walk down the aisle.

Missy’s response: Riding the golf cart down to the wedding ceremony. Enjoying how beautiful the day turned out to be and watching Dave walk in through the bushes surrounding the garden. It was pure happiness and anticipation!

To see more of their wedding click here. And if you have any questions for this bride and groom let us know in the comment section, we will be sure to pass the questions on.

Here are all three together:

We got both of my rings from a store called Tanishq. Sadly they closed their location here in Illinois. I love asymmetry, both of these rings are asymmetrical and perfect for me! I’m not a one big diamond kind of girl. They don’t fit together so I wear my engagement ring on my left hand and my wedding band on my right hand. My engagement ring i believe is an abstract flower. I love the wire that makes your eye flow through the band. The band is also not straight, but has a slight squiggle to it. My wedding band has seven rectangles on the top of the band and five circles on the bottom of the band. They both ascend into the middle and stop.

If you can see Rich’s ring has a wooden band off center in his ring. We loved the idea of having something simple with a little twist. We found the ring on Rob and Lean’s etsy shop. They actually custom made this particular one with the wood we liked and it being off centered like we liked.

We hope you enjoy hearing the story of our rings and where we got them!

We started with the mother and daughter with a simple background:

Then we went to the beach!

Mother and son:

Father and daughter:

Finally, the kids had a great time outside at the beach!  We have to enjoy the good weather while we have it here!