Roel and Robyn
I brought over Roel's and my story from our www.theknot.com wedding website. :) Enjoy!
ROBYN OAKES & ROEL VAN ECK
SEPTEMBER 17, 2005
ABOUT ROBYN
Robyn just finished her Master's in Oboe Performance this past May at Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. The day after graduation, Roel whisked her off to Holland to meet his family and friends, and to see his beloved homeland. During those two weeks, God showed both of them that this was it...
ABOUT ROEL
Roel is a software engineer with IEX, a Tekelec company. Born and raised in The Netherlands, he obtained a Bachelor Degree in Computer Science at the Hogeschool Utrecht, where he graduated in 1993. Roel moved to Dallas, Texas, USA, in May 2000. After 29 years of living with his parents (!!), he decided to move out... He was making up for lost time. :)
HOW WE MET
At the Heights Baptist Church, in the Young Professionals group!
WHEN WE GOT ENGAGED
June 25, 2005
HOW IT HAPPENED
On the weekend of June 25th, we were visiting Robyn's parents in Memphis for the weekend. The preceding Wednesday, Roel had told Robyn (after a morning in prayer) that he wanted to marry her. "I still have to ask your dad, and I still need to officially propose, but... I want to marry you..."
We'd already planned (God had planned it out!!) to go to Robyn's hometown of Memphis that weekend, so we got in Friday night and spent some time with Robyn's folks that evening. First thing Saturday morning, (wasting not a moment) Roel took Robyn's dad out to breakfast. At the Cracker Barrel, in between the waitress interrupting to offer coffee refills, Roel asked Mr. Oakes for Robyn's hand in marriage!! Mr. Oakes responded that he would be honored to give Roel Robyn's hand, and welcomed Roel to the family!
They came home and told Mrs. Oakes (whose response was "AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! :):):):):):):)") And immediately, Robyn's parents commenced wedding planning.
Robyn didn't know exactly how to feel, since (as far as she could really tell) she wasn't REALLY engaged. But as far as the other 3 people in the room (Roel and Robyn's parents) were concerned, it seemed to be a done deal.
Robyn's mom suggested gown shopping for the afternoon's activities, and--let's face it, official or not, what girl's gonna turn down wedding gown shopping?--Robyn agreed. Roel and Mr. Oakes decided to go see the IMAX Fighter Pilot movie.
Well, the gown shopping started out as browsing, but it soon became clear that a final decision would be made that very afternoon! After an hour or two, the ladies decided Mr. Oakes must come and help choose between the final selections. Meanwhile, the men had missed their showing of Fighter Pilot, and wanted to see the next showing. The girls (of course!) gently reminded Mr. Oakes that the choosing of the right bridal gown was more important that an airplane movie, and Mr. Oakes was persuaded to head toward the bridal shop.
Mrs. Oakes and Robyn continued bravely forging through the other possible gowns to narrow down the selection, and 3 finalists were finally selected.
As the final narrowing down was being completed, Mr. Oakes called to explain that the were having car trouble, but as he was on the phone someone with jumper cables drove up. The men would soon be on their way!!
By now starving and quite exhausted, Robyn and her mother waited in the bridal shop... Finally, the men arrived. Roel waited in the car, and Robyn and her parents were able to choose the perfect gown!!!
As the gown was being purchased, however, Robyn couldn't help but feel a little hesitant... She still wasn't actually engaged, regardless of what everybody else thought... Could this (absolutely perfect!!) gown be returned if she and Roel didn't get married?...
Exhausted and hungry but still quite excited, Robyn suggested the 4 go to Cozymel's Mexican Restaurant for a long-anticipated dinner. After they sat down and ordered, Roel told the Oakeses that he wanted to tell them all a story, that even Robyn didn't know. Roel told about a camping trip that he and Robyn had gone on together in November 2003, before Roel and Robyn had even had their first date.
That camping trip had been really special, and Robyn chipped in to help Roel tell her parents about it. Our friends had gone on in the evening, but Robyn had been in a Wind Ensemble concert that evening, so she couldn't leave town until quite late, and Roel had decided to wait for her and drive her, so she wouldn't have to drive alone. We had a wonderful evening, stopped for Starbuck's for a bit on our way out of town, and drove 2-3 hours to get to the campground. It was one of those wonderful evenings of fantastic conversation, and excited feelings; it flew by...
When we arrived at the campgrounds, well after midnight, we had to get out of the car to open a gate to get in. The stars were shining beautifully, and we gazed at them together.
At this point at Cozymel's in 2005, Roel said to Robyn, "Well, there's something about that night you don't know... You didn't see it, but there was a shooting star that night. And I saw it, and I wished on it that I would marry this woman."
Then he got out of the booth, and asked Robyn to scoot out to the edge of the booth. He got down on one knee and pulled out a GORGEOUS, unbelievably sparkling diamond solitaire, set in a gold band (EXACTLY what Robyn had always dreamed of!!!!), and he asked Robyn if she would marry him.
Of course Robyn said yes!!
It turns out that there was no fighter pilot movie, no car trouble, no jumper cables or anything else. As soon as the men got in the car to go the movie, Roel said to Robyn's dad, "I think I should get Robyn a ring today," to which Mr. Oakes replied, "I think so, too." The two of them spent the ENTIRE day driving all over the city of Memphis to NUMEROUS different jewelry stores to find the perfect ring for Robyn. Mrs. Oakes was in on it the whole time, too!! They kept calling to get her advice, and she kept pretending she was talking to different friends, "No, I don't think Sue will want to go there..." One of the greatest blessings of all was that they got to witness Roel's proposal to Robyn!!! Mr. Oakes took (fantastic!!!) pictures of the whole thing, and Mrs. Oakes kept trying to get Robyn to turn so she could see Robyn's face; at one point she reached over and pulled Robyn's hair back to see her face! Neither Robyn nor Roel even noticed! :)
ROBYN OAKES & ROEL VAN ECK
SEPTEMBER 17, 2005
ABOUT ROBYN
Robyn just finished her Master's in Oboe Performance this past May at Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. The day after graduation, Roel whisked her off to Holland to meet his family and friends, and to see his beloved homeland. During those two weeks, God showed both of them that this was it...
ABOUT ROEL
Roel is a software engineer with IEX, a Tekelec company. Born and raised in The Netherlands, he obtained a Bachelor Degree in Computer Science at the Hogeschool Utrecht, where he graduated in 1993. Roel moved to Dallas, Texas, USA, in May 2000. After 29 years of living with his parents (!!), he decided to move out... He was making up for lost time. :)
HOW WE MET
At the Heights Baptist Church, in the Young Professionals group!
WHEN WE GOT ENGAGED
June 25, 2005
HOW IT HAPPENED
On the weekend of June 25th, we were visiting Robyn's parents in Memphis for the weekend. The preceding Wednesday, Roel had told Robyn (after a morning in prayer) that he wanted to marry her. "I still have to ask your dad, and I still need to officially propose, but... I want to marry you..."
We'd already planned (God had planned it out!!) to go to Robyn's hometown of Memphis that weekend, so we got in Friday night and spent some time with Robyn's folks that evening. First thing Saturday morning, (wasting not a moment) Roel took Robyn's dad out to breakfast. At the Cracker Barrel, in between the waitress interrupting to offer coffee refills, Roel asked Mr. Oakes for Robyn's hand in marriage!! Mr. Oakes responded that he would be honored to give Roel Robyn's hand, and welcomed Roel to the family!
They came home and told Mrs. Oakes (whose response was "AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! :):):):):):):)") And immediately, Robyn's parents commenced wedding planning.
Robyn didn't know exactly how to feel, since (as far as she could really tell) she wasn't REALLY engaged. But as far as the other 3 people in the room (Roel and Robyn's parents) were concerned, it seemed to be a done deal.
Robyn's mom suggested gown shopping for the afternoon's activities, and--let's face it, official or not, what girl's gonna turn down wedding gown shopping?--Robyn agreed. Roel and Mr. Oakes decided to go see the IMAX Fighter Pilot movie.
Well, the gown shopping started out as browsing, but it soon became clear that a final decision would be made that very afternoon! After an hour or two, the ladies decided Mr. Oakes must come and help choose between the final selections. Meanwhile, the men had missed their showing of Fighter Pilot, and wanted to see the next showing. The girls (of course!) gently reminded Mr. Oakes that the choosing of the right bridal gown was more important that an airplane movie, and Mr. Oakes was persuaded to head toward the bridal shop.
Mrs. Oakes and Robyn continued bravely forging through the other possible gowns to narrow down the selection, and 3 finalists were finally selected.
As the final narrowing down was being completed, Mr. Oakes called to explain that the were having car trouble, but as he was on the phone someone with jumper cables drove up. The men would soon be on their way!!
By now starving and quite exhausted, Robyn and her mother waited in the bridal shop... Finally, the men arrived. Roel waited in the car, and Robyn and her parents were able to choose the perfect gown!!!
As the gown was being purchased, however, Robyn couldn't help but feel a little hesitant... She still wasn't actually engaged, regardless of what everybody else thought... Could this (absolutely perfect!!) gown be returned if she and Roel didn't get married?...
Exhausted and hungry but still quite excited, Robyn suggested the 4 go to Cozymel's Mexican Restaurant for a long-anticipated dinner. After they sat down and ordered, Roel told the Oakeses that he wanted to tell them all a story, that even Robyn didn't know. Roel told about a camping trip that he and Robyn had gone on together in November 2003, before Roel and Robyn had even had their first date.
That camping trip had been really special, and Robyn chipped in to help Roel tell her parents about it. Our friends had gone on in the evening, but Robyn had been in a Wind Ensemble concert that evening, so she couldn't leave town until quite late, and Roel had decided to wait for her and drive her, so she wouldn't have to drive alone. We had a wonderful evening, stopped for Starbuck's for a bit on our way out of town, and drove 2-3 hours to get to the campground. It was one of those wonderful evenings of fantastic conversation, and excited feelings; it flew by...
When we arrived at the campgrounds, well after midnight, we had to get out of the car to open a gate to get in. The stars were shining beautifully, and we gazed at them together.
At this point at Cozymel's in 2005, Roel said to Robyn, "Well, there's something about that night you don't know... You didn't see it, but there was a shooting star that night. And I saw it, and I wished on it that I would marry this woman."
Then he got out of the booth, and asked Robyn to scoot out to the edge of the booth. He got down on one knee and pulled out a GORGEOUS, unbelievably sparkling diamond solitaire, set in a gold band (EXACTLY what Robyn had always dreamed of!!!!), and he asked Robyn if she would marry him.
Of course Robyn said yes!!
It turns out that there was no fighter pilot movie, no car trouble, no jumper cables or anything else. As soon as the men got in the car to go the movie, Roel said to Robyn's dad, "I think I should get Robyn a ring today," to which Mr. Oakes replied, "I think so, too." The two of them spent the ENTIRE day driving all over the city of Memphis to NUMEROUS different jewelry stores to find the perfect ring for Robyn. Mrs. Oakes was in on it the whole time, too!! They kept calling to get her advice, and she kept pretending she was talking to different friends, "No, I don't think Sue will want to go there..." One of the greatest blessings of all was that they got to witness Roel's proposal to Robyn!!! Mr. Oakes took (fantastic!!!) pictures of the whole thing, and Mrs. Oakes kept trying to get Robyn to turn so she could see Robyn's face; at one point she reached over and pulled Robyn's hair back to see her face! Neither Robyn nor Roel even noticed! :)
posted by Robyn @ 7:22 PM
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