- Julie and Kevin Polley knew that they weren’t searching for a conventional marriage ceremony, in order that they invited 100 friends to an engagement social gathering, then shocked everybody by saying “I do”
- “The help we bought from each single particular person there was insane and it was so enjoyable,” Julie says. “Everybody who we needed there made it, and we had been actually fortunate”
- The newlyweds inform PEOPLE that pulling off the epic shock was removed from straightforward
One couple pulled off a tremendous shock at their engagement social gathering, and utterly shocked friends who thought they had been celebrating the pair’s upcoming nuptials.
Julie and Kevin Polley invited over 100 relations and pals to their engagement social gathering at an exquisite restaurant. What the couple did not inform anybody was that the celebration was truly their marriage ceremony.
The pair first met in early 2010, working part-time jobs on the similar McDonald’s. They hit it off and fell in love and almost a decade later, Kevin was able to make issues official.
“In 2023, we went on a visit to Italy and that is the place Kevin proposed. We had been developing on 10 years of relationship,” Julie tells PEOPLE.
After sharing their engagement information, the couple “took somewhat little bit of time to only get pleasure from that we had been engaged.” As soon as it got here time for planning, the 2 realized the standard marriage ceremony wasn’t fairly what they had been searching for.
“As soon as I spotted how a lot planning every part would take, I had an thought. Usually, we’re very a lot individuals who prefer to host. We prefer to spend time with our family and friends, however neither of us had ever actually dreamed of getting this large marriage ceremony, by any means. We actually needed to have an excellent social gathering, in order that’s type of the place we began,” she shares.
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“We needed to determine methods to have an excellent social gathering with out placing an excessive amount of stress on ourselves. I really feel the marriage business creates numerous that proper now. We thought we might do an engagement social gathering after which we had been like, ‘What if we had been bought married on the engagement social gathering?'”
Pulling off a shock of that magnitude wasn’t straightforward. After getting her groom on board, the 2 approached their households.
“We simply needed to be sure that it wasn’t going to be something that was going to make them upset. We had our quick household within the loop,” she says. “Simply our dad and mom and siblings knew, which was actually nice for us as a result of we bought to do household images and whatnot earlier than, the morning of. However we had over 110 those who had completely no concept that they had been displaying as much as what could be our marriage ceremony.”
On April 27, 2024, it was time for the celebration and the large reveal. Julie remembers “shaking” as she and Kevin went via the speech they’d spent days earlier than rehearsing.
“We practiced simply to get the nerves out, however once you’re observing everybody like we had been, it was nonetheless somewhat nerve-wracking,” Julie shares. “On the similar time, we knew each particular person there was there as a result of they love us and since they needed to assist us rejoice, so it ended up being like probably the most enjoyable shock ever.”
Throughout her speech Julie informed the gang, “We have truly had a number of individuals point out to us that if we’re spending all this effort and time getting all of you guys collectively in such an exquisite restaurant that we’d as properly simply get the deed carried out tonight, however sadly, we do not have the power to make that occur proper now,” she stated trailing off.
“However in case you give me 20 minutes to vary my costume —,” she continued because the room realized what was taking place and everybody started chatting and cheering without delay.
“I felt like a well-known particular person giving a speech for second. The help we bought from each single particular person there was insane and it was so enjoyable,” Julie says. “Everybody who we needed there made it, and we had been actually fortunate.”
The couple is completely happy to have video that confirmed “the look on everybody’s faces” to recollect the epic night time endlessly.
“A few family and friends members faces are hysterical. Some are simply in full-blown shock, so utterly caught off-guard. A few of them seem like they’re 5 ft. within the air as a result of they’re leaping so excessive with pleasure. It was very surreal as a result of I will in all probability by no means have the ability to do one thing like that once more in my life, to shock so many individuals with such cool information.”
Julie modified and her sisters who had been her bridesmaids, did the identical. In the course of the ceremony, solely 30 or so friends had been seated whereas the remainder of the friends crowded round, creating an intimate second.
“Everybody was standing and cheering and it was actually cool. After we took all of the chairs away, that ended up being a dance ground, and so it was simply loopy. Everybody was on the dance ground, the entire night time. It actually was one of the best social gathering ever,” the bride says.
“We did not do the guardian dances or different speeches. Our speech was the one one which made it further particular; we had been the one ones who spoke to everybody, and it ended up being actually cool. However the dance ground was in all probability one of the best a part of the night time.”
Neither Julie nor Kevin anticipated that the footage from their marriage ceremony would go viral.
“It is feels cliche to say, ‘I had no clue that this was going to occur,’ however I did not. Individuals informed me to submit it after the very fact,” Julie says.
“There have been lots of people who had been like, ‘Oh I wish to see.’ So I posted it extra with that in thoughts, however it was actually cool to see individuals who I did not know saying, ‘That is one of the best thought ever.'”
Seeing the response was thrilling for the pair, who’ve since seen different couple’s throw related shock weddings.
“That was actually cool as a result of it wasn’t one thing I actually noticed a lot of beforehand. Commenters had been so good too. I discover the web is usually the worst type of place, however it’s like an amazing quantity of individuals which can be full strangers had been actually completely happy for us. I feel it is cool to see one thing go viral for no motive aside from love and happiness and folks being completely happy for strangers.”
Julie and Kevin hope to see different {couples} embrace the concept, if it is what feels proper to them.
“For my part, 100% do it, in case you assume it sounds cool. It is clearly not for everybody. Some individuals do wish to have all the common traditions, and I feel that these are so superb. I simply knew that that wasn’t actually for Kevin and me,” she says.
“It is a enjoyable and attention-grabbing strategy to shock individuals. We had the time of our lives.”
