Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Aaron Kreag and Kymper Nowicki are not your average couple.
From meeting online — Bumble to be specific — to a shorter-than-normal courtship and engagement, it was clear from the beginning this relationship would be anything but traditional.
But adding in the desire for a public wedding — at Warren’s Backyard no less — it’s obvious that Aaron and Kymper are not your typical bride and groom.
“We had both been married before, so it's not the whole traditional wedding. We didn't need that,” Kymper said. “We love to be around fun people and so we thought, ‘Let's just have something fun, more of a party.’”
LOVE STORY
Aaron, 47, and Kymper, 51, first matched on Bumble on Jan. 14, before deciding to meet in person on the same day.
“The cute thing about the story is we did meet online Sunday and we decided, ‘Well, let's just meet,’ so I suggested we meet at Warren’s because it was a really nice sunny day and it's like a park kind of setting,” Kymper explained. “We just sat there for hours, and we just talked.”
From there, the relationship and love blossomed — leading Aaron to move to Granbury in February, as at that time, he lived closer to Denton.
“I was looking for a town that had a volunteer fire department,” he said. “I spent a number of years as a paramedic and volunteered as a firefighter in Indiana over 20 years ago. For me, it was kind of serendipitous. I didn't want to be near the big city. I wanted a place with the volunteer fire department, I was looking for a church at the time...”
“And a beautiful woman,” Kymper chimed in.
“It all kind of oddly came about,” Aaron continued. “We met and shortly thereafter I went to church. Our saying is ‘No coincidences.’ It was just pretty weird the way everything kind of just started falling into place, and I was just like, ‘This is it.’ It was kind of 50%. I was curious about she and I and what can happen, but then the other 50% was just like, ‘This all feels right, and it all makes sense.’”
Aaron joined the Granbury Volunteer Fire Department in June, with Kymper following close behind in July.
"Subsequently, as I was going through the fire department process, Kemper ended up having some curiosity and asking some questions,” Aaron said. “Next thing, you know, she got brought into the fray.”
Kymper said joining the GVFD with Aaron served as the glue to their relationship and allowed her to connect with other members of the community.
“Even though I had been here, I really didn't know very many people, and I didn't like that I felt very disconnected, so we were both hoping to find a community and make friends, and that definitely has served that purpose," she said.
Kymper’s comment also led Aaron to reminisce about the time he posted on the Hood County Breaking News Facebook page asking for friends and letting the public know about their public wedding — even though Aaron hadn’t even proposed at that time.
“I'm like, ‘Okay, that sounds really, really weird,’ but it worked,” Kymper said. “We've connected with a lot of people. It is a little odd, and unconventional, but it's so us. We decided to have it at Warren’s because that’s where we had our first date, and it just seemed right. Like, it’s our vibe. It’s close, it’s casual and it’s open.”
On their six-month anniversary, Aaron had also casually broached the topic of the public wedding to Steve Berry, the owner of Warren’s Backyard, who was thrilled with the idea and offered to serve as the officiant for their wedding.
“It went from ‘Let's just get married at the bar with Steve in T-shirts and blue jeans,’ to a big party,” Aaron said. “It kind of started taking on a life of its own.”
Once it became clear that the public wedding was going to be something more than just an idea, Aaron realized he needed to start planning his proposal.
ROMANTIC PROPOSAL
In early September, Aaron and Kymper were in Chicago for the wedding of Aaron’s younger brother. However, unfortunate circumstances led to the wedding being canceled.
With the pair all dressed up and nothing to do, they decided to go to a nice dinner at the Signature Room at the 95th — a restaurant that has since permanently closed.
“We sit down and we're looking at the menu and the menu is custom. It says, ‘I'll always love you, Kymper,' or something like that," Kymper said. “They asked if we want dessert and I'm like ‘No, let's just go out. We're gonna hit the town,’ and all of a sudden the waiter comes over with this big silver platter and he unveils it and there's this beautiful like chocolate torte, and on the plate, it says, ‘Will you marry me?’ and there's a ring there. And I'm like, all tears, you know, then he proposes, and we took pictures next to the window with the skyline behind us. It was perfect. It was everything.”
Aaron explained how the ring is a family heirloom, so he needed to get it resized for Kymper. The only issue was sneaking it from his sister’s house and traveling with it undetected all the way to Chicago.
“My brother-in-law takes me, he parks down the road and makes me walk to the jeweler and leave my phone in the car because we have the little location sharing on our phones, so I'm like, ‘Alright, well she's gonna think I'm at Dunkin’ Donuts, not the jeweler, because he's parked at Dunkin’ Donuts,’” Aaron said. “So I go to the jeweler, I dropped the ring off, then I told my sister, ‘I need help getting this ring (back) because I can't go do it,’ so my sister and her friend made up an excuse to leave, and they go on a little secret mission, and they pick up the ring.”
Following the “secret mission,” Aaron’s sister then informed him she had put the engagement ring in a used Wendy’s cheeseburger bag, crumpled it up and put it in the glove box in his car.
Realizing the situation, plus thinking about how they would need to valet the car in Chicago, Aaron had to think of another way to get the ring without Kymper seeing.
He parked at a gas station and told Kymper to check their lottery tickets. While she was gone, he quickly grabbed the sack, pulled the ring out, and put it in his pocket.
"Then we get to the hotel, and I had moved the ring from my blue jean pocket to my tux pocket before we went downstairs, and then I had to get the ring to the waiter at the Signature Room,” he said.
“It was so cute,” Kymper added. “When he revealed that whole story, I was like, ‘Wow. It’s so much better.’ I love the effort that went into keeping the secret.”
Kymper explained that back in June, they had booked a cruise for Thanksgiving with a group of friends and thought about using the cruise for their honeymoon — but that also meant they would have to get married in just a couple of months, leaving the public wedding as the perfect idea for the couple.
“We knew that it was going to be difficult for a lot of people because it's short notice so we thought, ‘OK, we will keep it cool, casual and public,” she said. “It doesn't matter, because it's still going to have that vibe of a party. We feel like people with the same kind of vibe want to share that with us, and that's totally what we were going for. Even if we don't know them. They're gonna be there with good intentions and the right reason.”
WEDDING DATE
Aaron and Kymper’s public wedding is set for Friday, Nov. 17, from 7-11 p.m., at Warren’s Backyard, 2901 Weatherford Hwy., with the wedding ceremony starting at 8 p.m.
The event will feature a cash bar, a photo booth and a live performance from the Fort Worth classic rock band, Ashmore — an experience that also does not require a cover charge.
“We're not able to host everybody, so we wanted to do what we could to make it as easy as possible,” Kymper said.
To add to the fun vibe of the night, the couple will also host a raffle to determine who will serve as a witness to their holy matrimony.
"We’ll take a picture with them to add to the randomness,” Kymper said, with a chuckle. “These were our witnesses. We didn't know them. But now we're best friends.”
Although many guests have inquired about a wedding registry, Aaron explained they will not be accepting gifts at their wedding. Instead, guests are encouraged to donate to a nonprofit organization with the memo “for love and community.”
“We've been married before, you know, we're good,” Aaron said. “Find your favorite nonprofit — that (gesture) fits with our energy and our vibe.”
There is no dress code or appropriate attire for the evening.
After 8 p.m., the venue will have an age requirement of 21 and older.
Warren's can accommodate up to about a thousand people, and there is ample free parking on-site.
THE ONE
What first began as a right swipe on a dating app has now led to a passionate love story between two individuals who were both looking for a second chance at love.
"For me, I've always been a bit restless and I've had a unique life with a lot of military stuff and foreign travel and a lot of chaos," Aaron said. “If you're with somebody and they're like, ‘Oh, they think I'm attractive,’ or ‘They think I'm funny,’ that's a bit commonplace. But what I never felt was ‘I'm with somebody who cares about my soul,’ and I (felt that early with Kymper). That was probably within two weeks, where I was like, ‘She's soul medicine for me.’ We spent hours and hours and hours talking. I've never talked to somebody so much in my life, and I’ve never had somebody be so interested in me and my stories.”
Kymper said Aaron has a “lot of life,” which she finds “intriguing.” She also remembers their first date when she was “taken aback” by finally getting to meet him in person.
"He had sent me a selfie that morning, so I knew what he looked like, but when you see someone in person, (it’s different), and I was just like, ‘Holy crap,’” she said. “We sat for six hours, because it was that easy. I didn't want to leave. I was just like, ‘I like his energy, and this just feels so comfortable.’ I always knew that I would know that I met the person that was supposed to be for me because I would feel like they were me. I can't explain it — not physically looking like me, but they feel like me.”
Kymper said they would be laughing hysterically in the middle of the night, and it was then she realized this was her person.
“I told him, ‘I'm supposed to be in your life. I don't know in what capacity. I just know I am, so I'm here. I'm gonna ride this out, and we're gonna figure out what we need to figure out,’” she said. “I think it was pretty instant, but by a month-and-a-half in, I was like, ‘I'm locked in. I really, really like this man,’ and here we are.”
After almost a year of knowing each other, Aaron and Kymper plan to tie the knot with family, friends, and strangers in attendance.
“Here's the thing: we don't know who or how many people are going to show because it's public,” Kymper said. “They could come because it's Friday night and they go to Warren’s, they could come because they're coming to follow Ashmore, and they could come because they saw one of the million posts (about the wedding), so we're hoping it's just going to be this huge mix of everybody. Whether you're there for us or not, it doesn't matter. We're just happy that we're gonna have people there."
Kymper added that she plans to keep the evening “chill and cool.”
“That’s the game plan,” she added. “But let’s see how well we can pull that off.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Aaron added. “It should be fun.”
