Beth Donovan and Nick Matheis met during the most wonderful time of the year—Christmas! They were introduced at a holiday party by Beth’s brother, who was good friends with Nick at accounting school. The connection was strong from the beginning. “Nick called not too long after we met, and I told my dad the day after our first date that I had just gone out with my future husband,” she says. “We have very similar family values and work ethics, and we both have the same sense of humor!”
It didn’t take Nick long to realize it was right, either. The following year, he planned a proposal at the Winter Wonderland in Tilles Park, but changed plans at the last minute. “We were going out with our families the night before Thanksgiving,” Beth says. “My sisters were both in town, and I mentioned how fun it would be to celebrate our engagement with them, so he scrapped his original plan and came over with a couple dozen roses and proposed before we left that night!”
They were so excited to have found each other, there was no need to wait and “stress about the little details,” Beth says. “We just wanted to be together! Every venue I had hoped for was available on the day we picked, and we planned it in six months.” She says ‘intimate’ was the key word, so they kept the celebration to around 150 guests while still including her large family. “It was important to us to incorporate family throughout the day,” she says. “We had a table of remembrance for our grandparents, I wore my grandmother’s wedding ring on my other hand, and since I’m 100 percent Irish, a bagpiper played as we were exiting the church and introduced at The Ritz.”
Her favorite memory was on the stairwell at the hotel, where she and Nick got their first glimpse of each other that day. “We had a photographer and videographer capture it, but then they stepped away and it was just us, alone in that moment.”
resources
Ceremony | Shrine of St. Joseph
Reception | The Ritz-Carlton
Cake |The Ritz-Carlton
Floroist | Walter Knoll Florist
Music | Arvell & Company Band
Honeymoon | Antigua
wedding party
Maids of Honor | Christy Donovan, Martha Campbell
Bridesmaids | Michelle Donovan, Katie Matheis, Kelly Matheis
Best Man | Alex Matheis
Groomsmen | Jack Donovan III, Aaron Campbell, Matthew LaTrello, David Harris
Flower Girl | Catherine Campbell, Shannon Campbell, Emma Donovan, Marie Campbell
Ring Bearer | Jack Donovan IV
Bride’s parents | Jack & Louise Donovan of Chesterfield
Groom’s parents | Dennis & Vickie Matheis of Ladue
Photos by bliss eleven photography