Nothing they had planned, everything they wanted.
When two people are meant to be together, love will find a way. Often it comes down to being in the right place at the right time. That was especially true for Ali and Nathan.
Of all places, the couple met on Tinder. But it’s not your normal Tinder story. Tinder sends matches for you within a certain geographic radius, and Ali and Nathan lived 170 miles apart. Per Tinder settings, they wouldn’t have been matched. However, Ali spent a weekend visiting her best friend who was living on an Airforce base only 40 miles away from Nathan, putting him in Ali’s Tinder radius just for that weekend. The site “matched” them, but Ali didn’t see the match until she returned home.
Ali said the first thing she noticed about Nathan was his “literal mega-watt, diamond smile.” She said when she learned that “this absolute SMOKE SHOW of a man was almost 200 miles away,” her first reaction was “NOOOO!”
One hundred and seventy miles north, in Grain Valley, Nathan saw the match also and was drawn to Ali, noticing how much of a goof she was from her silly photos. The pair started talking and decided to meet up only a few weeks later.
They chose to meet at a Mexican restaurant in Clinton, MO – the halfway point between them.
Ali was running late, which she says Nathan now knows is one of her chronic traits.
“As soon as we sat down and started talking, instant connection,” she said. “We talked about everything under the sun.”
Even though Nathan couldn’t swoon Ali into getting married at a chapel down the road, they decided they couldn’t leave each other quite yet, so they found a park.
“Luckily, Nathan brought a blanket so we could sit on the grass and talk some more,” Ali said. “After awhile and maaaayyyybbbee a first kiss involved (EEK), we moved the party to Dairy Queen where we sat in Nathan’s car and decided to plan a second date cause five hours together only seemed like five minutes.”
Ali said when they finally parted ways, she knew without a doubt that she had just met her future husband.
“I got that ‘you know when you know’ feeling. I drove back home with my heart fluttering and happier than ever.”
For Nathan, it took a tiny bit longer (despite his attempt to convince Ali to go down to the chapel on their first date).
“I knew [she was the one] from the moment she fell asleep on my chest while we were watching a movie on our third date,” he remembered.
Despite their physical distance, Ali and Nathan made sure to FaceTime every night and tried to make the trip to see one another every weekend for the next year.
With zero doubt in either of their minds that they had found the person they wanted to spend their one and only life with, there was only one thing left to ask.
“Nathan proposed downstairs in our house,” Ali shared. “We were getting ready to go see his mom and he told me that he needed to show me something down there. We had just been down there organizing our storage. He knew it would be hard to surprise me, as I usually catch onto everything....but he sure did this time! He went down a minute before me and into the room we keep our dog kennel in since we have a camera in there to watch our dog. I turned the corner to go into the room and he knelt down and said "Allison MaKalea.....". I thought he was joking as he has before with kneeling down to tie his shoes and such, but sure enough, there was a box in his hands with a SHINY ring in it. I immediately started crying and couldn’t believe my eyes. He could barely get out, "Will you marry me?" before he started crying as well. I was so happy he did it in the privacy of our own home as it gave us time to collect ourselves and relish in the moment before being asked a million questions. It was absolutely perfect in every way, shape and form.”
After telling their families, they were ready to start wedding planning.
Dreaming of a fall wedding, they toured The Venue at Shadow Rock and booked it for Nov. 12, 2022.
“We chose the venue because it seemed to fit our personalities well and it is run by super sweet people that you can tell really love what they do,” Ali said. “There isn’t a place like this venue anywhere in this area and we love anything unique and classy.”
With the date and location chosen, the real planning got underway.
“We planned this whole wedding from KC with 99% of our vendors in the Springfield/Branson area,” Ali said. “This meant ONE open house where we were able to trial run just a few things and figure out any outlying major details.”
With all their vendors booked and the details coming together, they described their wedding style as eclectic, with touches of rustic, romantic and dreamy.
But the style and details aren’t what Nathan and Ali were most excited about.
“I am most excited about marrying Nathan,” Ali shared. “But also having all our favorite people there to join us in our happiness.”
For Nathan, it was simple. “Without question, seeing Ali walk down the aisle and saying ‘I do,’” he said when asked what he was most looking forward to.
That moment did not disappoint.
The morning of their wedding dawned bright, but chilly. The venue was full of greenery, tall glass votives with white floating candles, beautiful fall-colored florals, and a neon sign that said ‘I love you so much’ hung behind their head table.
The outdoor ceremony was a chilly affair (as far as the thermometer was concerned), but full of the warmth of love and excitement. The sight of Ali walking down the aisle brought tears to Nathan’s eyes. And when they walked back up the aisle, they walked together as Mr. & Mrs. Nathan Dorsch.
The rest of the evening was full of dinner, cake, and dancing. Cold spark machines shot streams of sparks up into the cold November air as a background for their first dance, which they had outside under the stars. The cedar wall of the back patio had been strung with twinkly lights, and after the first dance, the father/daughter dance and mother/son dance took place in front of it as well. After the special dances, the party moved indoors before ending with an epic send-off featuring cold spark machines and light wands.
Photos by Turner Creative
And to think they may never have met if it hadn’t been for Ali’s trip to visit her best friend, and Tinder making the “match.”
“Here we are two years later, getting married,” Ali said. “It’s nothing like we could have planned, but everything we could have ever wanted.”
With their dreamy fall wedding over, the real fun was only just beginning.
“I am looking forward to just spending the rest of our lives together and continuing to build our family. As of now, our pups are our whole world,” Ali said.
Nathan said he was looking forward to “always being there to support each other, on good days and bad days.”
When asked if they had any advice for future couples, they shared, “Make sure to keep having date nights throughout wedding planning and continue that for the rest of your life. Never stop dating your spouse.”
Photos by Turner Creative
