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Kim and Kevin met on the beaches of Cape May County, but their summer of romance was much more than a fling. They had to endure three years of frequent plane rides, long phone calls, and tiresome drives to see each other after the summer’s magic was over and the two returned to their faraway colleges in Florida and Delaware.
They now look back at that time with fondness, but are glad to be together again in Wildwood, where Kevin now works as a firefighter, paramedic, and nurse. Those sun-soaked beach days of their early romance have now matured into year-round beach life; they endure Wildwood’s winter windstorms that locals know all-too-well.
Kim was raised in Cape May County, but Kevin is also deeply familiar with beach-town life. He spent most of his childhood in Palm Beach, Florida. Kim works as a preschool and special education teacher in Cape May. Through their service-oriented jobs, they both give back to the community that has given much to them.
After years of summer visits and long-distance dating, Kevin took the task of proposing to Kim very seriously. He spent months designing a custom-made ring with which to surprise Kim. He carried the ring around for months. He didn’t want to plan the “moment” too carefully; he would know when the time was right.
So it was that he took a knee – surrounded by friends and family – at Willow Creek Winery. That same winery would be the location of their wedding nearly a year later.
Kim did her due diligence and researched every venue in Cape May County before locking her choice in, but said that they “knew from the beginning that Willow Creek Winery was our dream location.”
Kim took on the heavy task of wedding planning herself. She said that Kevin was a “helpful ear,” but she did most of the work herself. Kim did a lot of the thinking while upside down hanging off a gym bar; she is a retired gymnast and cheerleader.
Willow Creek, tucked away in a rural stretch of West Cape May, is the only winery on Cape Island. Kim said that the venue’s “florals and greenery” made for a “beautiful romantic garden vibe” that just couldn’t compete with the other places she looked at.
Their ceremony took place at the historical, regal Our Lady Star of the Sea, located at the north end of the Washington Street Mall in Cape May. The church, built in 1848 before a great fire ravaged the city, is also the couple’s home church.
Both Kim and Kevin knew from the beginning of their engagement that they wanted to get married locally. The peninsula served as the backdrop for their romance and would be the spot where they locked-in their love.
Their wedding weekend took them all over Cape May. They started the weekend at the Cape May Convention Center for their rehearsal dinner; the center’s massive windows let them overlook the beach.
The groomsmen got ready for the wedding itself at the Marquis de Lafayette on the Cape May promenade while the bride and bridesmaids fixed themselves up Willow Creek Winery’s Rose Room.
Luckily, the weather cooperated with their big day. Kim’s gleeful remarks about the day help prove that simple, gleeful love is still alive and well.
“It was the most perfect day from beginning to end,” she said. “The weather was gorgeous; we were surrounded by the people we love most. We got to celebrate finally being husband and wife. We spent the entire day smiling in pure bliss. We have been together nine years and I still think forever is not long enough.”
