Anna Cooke
and
Matthew Reynolds
Please join us for our wedding ceremony and celebration on
Our Story
We met in early high school, and developed a strong friendship over many months of time spent together and with each other's families. As we grew closer, we both felt for some reason (later to be named fate and the will of God) that it was not right to take our friendship to the next level and start dating. A major factor in this decision was the unveiling of Matthew's move to Florida with his family. Though it pained us both to lose each other, the friendship respectfully and peacefully came to an end for the time being. Matthew was moving 1,000 miles away and we knew it was not right in our hearts to be together; no grudges were held against one another, and we both valued the great friendship we had grown to have in our late high school years. Both of us started to live our lives separately, Anna in Pennsylvania, and Matthew in Florida; though all the time was wonderful as we adventured on our own and made memories in the two years we spent apart, we both were starting to feel a vacancy in our hearts that we couldn't quite fill. That's when we started to pray; we found out we were both praying around the same time for someone who would share the desire for true love that we both knew was so intense in our own hearts, for someone to trust, respect, and honor the way only a husband or wife can. By the grace of God, a trip was planned that took Matthew back up to PA, where we met again and immediately felt a spark of something that was left deep in our hearts from the friendship we once shared, only this time it felt like more; like a flickering flame that's finally been exposed to fuel and oxygen, we both knew that if this wasn't it then nothing was. Jesus had heard our prayers, and had been orchestrating this love for years without us even realizing it. All our friendship, all the lessons learned in our time apart, had all led us to this moment, and we were both intensely aware of this upon Matthew's return when we were reunited after years apart. We learned to be great friends again, and started to text, call, and FaceTime (intentionally) when Matthew returned to Florida after his trip. By and by Anna made her way down to visit, and we recapped all that had happened over the last three years, together and apart. Anna went back home, and Matthew immediately started planning a trip to ask Anna's father for permission to date her; once that happened, it was history from there. We have been blessed beyond measure to have found each other and share in this love, to extend our families as both sides have been nothing less than wonderful throughout all the trips and travels we have taken to visit one another. Our marriage marks the beginning of our new life together, when after all these years apart and the last bit constantly traveling, we finally get to call each other "home".