We're Getting Married!
MICHAEL
& MARIAH
Saturday, May 23, 2026
Curate - East Village
Des Moines, Iowa
LET'S
PARTY!
Celebrating
With Those We Love
4:30pm Ceremony
Our ceremony will be indoors, at the same location at the cocktail hour and reception.
5:00pm Cocktail Hour
Enjoy scrumptious food, signature drinks, and jazzy music! Cross your fingers for patio weather.
6:00pm Reception
Let the party begin! Expect a full meal, great toasts by the best people, and lots of dancing!
Travel & Stay
Our Story
Although Michael and Mariah are both University of Northern Iowa graduates, they did not meet until they were living in Des Moines after leaving Cedar Falls in 2019. Mariah was living with two friends from college, Maddie and Anna. They had some noisy upstairs neighbors but had never met them. One night during a storm, Mariah, Maddie, and Anna went on a Dunkin' run. Those upstairs neighbors, Michael, Jake, and Max noticed them trying to get back into the apartment in the rain and thought this was the perfect opportunity to make new friends. After what seemed to be a ding-dong-ditch on their apartment, the girls found a note on their door.
"From: Upstairs 202
To: Downstairs 102
In the most non weird way possible, want to be friends? Check yes or no and return to sender.
☐Yes ☐No
☐No, sorry this was weird"
The girls weren't sure what to think of this but they needed friends. They checked yes and proceeded to plan an entire game night passing notes back and forth! That first night they got together was a blast and they became immediate friends. Mariah and Michael were always drawn to eachother, building a great friendship in the first few months. That is until Michael confessed his "more than friends" feelings one weekend night over too many drinks at PBR.
After that, they went on their first date to Akebono, where Michael charmed with his seafood / see food joke. They started dating in January 2020 and met eachothers' families just in time for COVID to hit. Since they lived in the same apartment complex, it made it easy to see each other during that time. Mariah adopted, Moose, her first cat that summer, who became Michael's unwelcomed roommate turned best friend. Ned was adopted in 2022 and they moved to Washington, DC in 2024.
The past few years have been filled with fun memories, lots of changes, and many cat snuggles. We are so thankful to have our friends and family come together to celebrate us taking this next step in our relationship! We love you all.
