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[#1]

Thank you for all of the wonderful responses to my wedding blog. Tracey and I were so pleased to share the memories of our day with all of you. In response, I have received many requests to hear the story of how we met. Conveniently, Tracey and I had co-written a blog for our wedding website, so I thought it would be fun to share it along with some pictures with you. What you’re about to read is the entry exactly as we wrote it for our wedding guests. Enjoy!

Act 1: They “Q”, Do You?

Have you ever submitted to the allure of home shopping... more specifically, QVC? Do you know what the letters stand for? If you guessed Quality, Value and Convenience, you’re right! But those three words together will forever have extra special meaning to Tracey and Jonathan.

You see, it is QVC which brought the two together. Tracey had been working as a model for two and a half years and Jonathan was a year into his new hosting job. Inexplicably, the two had never met. They had never crossed paths in the cafeteria, never even seen each other on TV and Jonathan had never had the pleasure of hosting a show in which Tracey modeled. But at 2am on a summer night in 2010, the stars aligned.

Tracey was in for a makeup show and headed into the waiting area to grab a late night snack with her friends Brenda and Deanna. Jonathan was meeting his guests in the same area and he immediately caught Tracey’s attention. Perhaps it was his amazing smile or charming demeanor... but it sure was something. She turned to the girls and said “Who is that?!” to which Deanna and Brenda replied, “oh, he’s the new host from LA.” Without skipping a beat, Tracey said, “That is my future husband!” Shortly after, sparks began to fly as their first private conversation was about... oatmeal flavors. Romancing the oats, Jonathan noticed that Tracey was choosing the Apple and Cinnamon variety.  He wryly stately, “I’m more of a Maple Brown Sugar guy.” She laughed and replied with a flirtatious, “I like all the flavors.” Alright, so it wasn’t Shakespeare, but it didn’t need to be... the seed was sown.

From there, they’d like to say the rest was history... although it didn’t happen that smoothly. You see, Jonathan forgot (or didn’t have the guts) to ask for Tracey’s number, which led him on a wild goose chase to track her down. He went to his producer Scott and asked “who is that girl, and what’s her deal?” Scott coolly replied, “she models here and is an NFL cheerleader.” At first, that sounded like trouble, but Tracey was unforgettable... so beautiful and enchanting that Jonathan had to do some undercover work. Without a cell number or an email address, he did what every modern man does... he googled her. A video posted by a photographer Tracey had worked with came up, so Jonathan decided to contact him and ask him to forward an email to Tracey. A few days later, an email appeared in Tracey’s inbox from that same photographer. It read, “Hope all is well, see below.” As she scrolled down, she read a forwarded email from none other than... Jonathan.

The email explained that he was looking to cast a dancer in a music video he was developing for his album and he thought Tracey was a perfect fit. Yes, it sounds like a great pick up line, but it was true! Excited at the job opportunity, Tracey called Jonathan and agreed to meet him to talk “business.” When they met, however, he paid for the sushi and to this day calls it their first date.  The two made it official shortly thereafter and oh by the way,  the music video is still “in development.”

The Dunn and Redford families met, hit it off and everyone began to realize that they were a match made in heaven. Even Simon, Jonathan’s mini schnauzer, gets along with Tracey’s flabby feline, Louise (but we can’t say the feeling is mutual!).

With the young and passionate Tracey knowing she had a good thing going and the old and excitable Jonathan thinking “why wait,” they decided to take the next step together. If you’re wondering how, read on.

Act 2: The Engagement

Jonathan and Tracey took a weekend trip to a charming little town called Jim Thorpe, PA, aka the Switzerland of the US. What was supposed to be a very relaxing and memorable weekend got off to a rough start. Tracey came down with a terrible sinus infection and was feeling miserable, so Jonathan was ready to shelve his plans all together. Unbeknownst to her, he had already postponed two previous engagement attempts because of blizzards, but he was ready to wait out both the weather and health impediments.

Their last day in town, January 30, 2011,Tracey finally felt better, the snow had stopped and the sun was out. Seizing the beautiful day, the two decided to hike up the Glen Onoko Falls. The snowy and icy trails proved to be quite treacherous, especially because both Jonathan and Tracey lacked proper hiking gear. However, the two managed to climb all the way to the top and were greeted with breathtaking views and frozen waterfalls. Jonathan asked Tracey to stand in front of an ice cave so he could frame a shot and set the timer. Turns out, the sneaky Jonathan wasn’t taking a picture, he was actually recording the moment.

With Tracey oblivious to his secret, he got down on one knee (which was actually more like a lunge), and asked Tracey to spend the rest of her life with him! Shocked and giddy, her first response was, “are you recording this?!?” Thankfully, she remembered to say “yes” shortly thereafter. It was the most memorable proposal, an incredibly beautiful day and a profoundly happy moment for both of them. But the challenges began immediately... they had to make it down the icy mountain with a diamond on her finger!

Act 3: The Wedding

Tracey and Jonathan are looking forward to sharing their big day with each and every one of you! After all, what matters most to them is the...

Quality of life that they will share, the Value of loving family and good friends, and the Convenience of being in the right place at the right time!

So that’s how we shared our story with the friends and family that were preparing to come to our wedding. I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about us! If you haven’t read my wedding blog, click here to see how our big day turned out.