Love Story Fall 2007

Leah (Greene) & Rick Chapko

August 4, 2007
Burlington, Vermont
AT THE BEAUTIFUL SUNSET BALLROOM

How we met

In the summer of 2004, I completed a summer practicum in speech pathology in Wichita Falls, Texas. I was a graduate student at the University of Vermont. I hadn't planned on going away for the summer, but one of my professors asked if anyone in my class wanted to do a practicum out of state. I had always wanted to travel to other parts of the country, so I volunteered. I chose Wichita Falls because my mom's brother and his wife live there, and they offered to let me stay with them for the summer.

On my first weekend in Texas, my Uncle (who worked as a civilian at Sheppard Air Force Base) introduced me to a co-worker. My Uncle's co-worker offered to show me around town, and we went out with some of his friends that night. One of his friends happened to be Rick, who was a lieutenant at Sheppard at the time. When Rick and I started talking about where we went to college, we realized we both used to run cross country Öand our schools had even competed at some of the same meets ! Luckily, we had both continued to pursue our passion for distance running, and we were both looking for a summer running partner. He called me the next day, and we went out for a 3 mile run by Lake Wichita that evening. After about a month of running and hanging out with friends together, we started dating.

How we got engaged

Needless to say, my return to Vermont at the end of that summer was difficult for both of us... .it is a long way from Texas!!! Rick and I continued to talk on the phone regularly, and he sent me roses for my birthday the week I returned to Vermont. He also came up to visit that Labor Day weekend. He met my family and several of my friends that weekend, and they absolutely loved him! I had a great time showing him around Vermont. On his last night in Vermont, we went for a walk by the Burlington Waterfront and he told me he loved me for the first time. Of course, I said it back!

Over the course of the next year, we maintained a long-distance relationship and visited each other every few months. The following summer, Rick decided to take me to Chicago (his hometown) as a graduation present. We had a great weekend in Chicago. I got to meet his sister and her family. We spent that Saturday seeing the city. We went to see the musical Wicked, and we went out to dinner at the Signature Room in the Hancock tower.

After dinner, we went for a walk down by lake Michigan. I was a bit suspicious that something big was going to happen... lakes tend to play a big role in our story!! As we were walking by Ohio street beach, Rick said he had something important to say before the weekend was over. That's when he got down on one knee, took the engagement ring out of his pocket, and asked "Will you marry me?" After I said yes, we couldn't stop smiling. We walked over to Navy Pier and took a ride on the Ferris wheel where we could look down on the spot where we were standing when we got engaged.

Then we spent the next couple of days enjoying Chicago and calling all of our friends and family to share the exciting news. And there was even more excitement in store! Fortunately, a few months after the engagement, Rick received orders to Langley Air Force base in Virginia, where I had taken a job in a public school.

Most Memorable Details

I have been told by other brides and grooms that the ceremony can be a bit of a blur, so I tried to take in all of the details as it was happening. The one image that stands out the most in my mind was when Rick and I poured our unity sand from two vases into a large vase. My sand was from Lake Champlain and his was from Lake Michigan. The sands were slightly different colors and textures, and as we poured they made the most amazing swirl pattern in the vase. After the ceremony, as the receiving line was winding down, some of my family members and I decided to try to ring the church bell in the foyer. My sister (matron of honor) and one of my junior bridesmaids and I all pulled down on the rope, and all we could get was a very faint "ding". (But then one of my cousins had better luck making the bell ring).

The biggest surprise of the day happened when I arrived at the reception. Rick had told me that he was in charge of the guest book, and that it was a surprise. When we showed up, I saw my old acoustic guitar sitting in its case with names and warm wishes from all of our guests written all over the body of the guitar! There was a plaque on the guitar that said our names and the date. It was incredibly touching! There was never a dull moment at our reception. From watching my cousins carry one of my non-dancing uncles out onto the dance floor, to hearing spontaneous Cardinals, Cubs, Yankees, AND RED SOX chants erupt after the last dance, the entire night was highly entertaining.

Some Planning Advice to Future Brides and Grooms

If you're planning a wedding, it is very important to start early. Especially if you have an ideal picture in your mind of what you want, you will need to get started on the plans way in advance. I was fairly flexible and open to different ideas, but even in my case it was a challenge to coordinate everything. I found the initial planning phase to be the most difficult part of planning my wedding. It can be tricky to secure all of the vendors/services for a single day and time.

Once you take care of the big things: the reception site, the ceremony site, the photographer, the florist, etc, the rest is just details - and you can have fun with it. Also, I was very fortunate in that my mother and my wedding party shared a lot of the responsibility of wedding planning. My mom was fantastic!! She says she had a blast helping us plan.

If any of your friends or family members offer to help, don't be afraid to delegate responsibilities. Even the smallest thing can lighten the burden of planning such a huge event. This is especially true if you live out of state and you have family members or friends near the wedding site who can check out venues or meet with vendors so that you can get an honest opinion.

Planning a wedding is a lot of work... but with the amount of time I spent planning (14 months) and all the help that I had in the process, I never felt too overwhelmed. If things do get stressful - and they occasionally will - just remember to step back and look at the big picture. Even if NOTHING ELSE goes as planned, at the end of the day, you and your fiance' will be married - and that's what matters the most.

Index of Love Stories at Vermont Bride Magazine