Thousands of miles from home, Rachel walked into a Spanish church and spotted Brett. She saw his “his cute nerdy glasses, and wondered if there might be something there,” Rachel said. “It turned out that behind those nerdy glasses was a kind, thoughtful man, but there were no sparks between us for almost six years.”

Rachel said, “Then, the month before I was supposed to move back to the U.S., Brett had a life-changing moment in which he realized that I had all the qualities he had been looking for in a woman. And even though it took him six years to notice me, once he did notice, he wasted no time.”

Four weeks later, the couple was engaged. “Because I was moving back to the States, we talked openly—but not too openly—about using our month together to figure out if we should get engaged,” Rachel said. “And yes, I know it sounds crazy! But we remind people, we had been friends for six years, we had similar interests and we both loved and were committed to following God. A month later I knew what my answer would be when he asked me.”

For the couple’s fall wedding in the backyard of a family friend’s home, “we chose green, white, blue and yellow—greens for bridesmaids, blue for groomsmen, white and yellow for flowers and décor,” Rachel said. “I wanted a cohesive look rather than an everything-matching look. And as we thought about the number of people who would be coming to our outdoor wedding, we decided a casual picnic would be a fun and easy way to feed our families and guests.”

Rachel said, “We kept it simple. The outdoor location was already so bright and green, we decided to just add some white pumpkins and white geraniums, which remind me of Spain, since Spaniards have red and white geraniums across their porches almost all year long.”

For a meal, the couple “had picnic boxes, which included sandwiches, bags of baby carrots, chips and individual servings of salad dressing,” Rachel said. “We had buckets of granny smith apples, all the soft drinks were set out in a vintage bathtub and we had little milk cartons for the kids to have with their desserts.”

She said, “We decided that instead of having a bouquet toss, speeches and a cake cutting, we’d like to have some games for our guests. We asked some dear friends to be in charge of the two games we had decided on—bobbing for doughnuts on a string and a three-legged race. The games were a hit!”

Rachel’s advice for other brides included: “Remember, this is a day to celebrate your love and commitment to one another with the people around you. Don´t stress about the details. Details are beautiful, but you might have to let go of your ‘dream wedding’ to enjoy the lovely wedding you actually have. And believe me—it is lovely!”

Thank you to Powerhouse Studios Photography for sharing this wonderful wedding.