Madlock-Althoff Wedding
Q. How did you meet?
We met each other about a month after I had moved to Las Cruces. We were set up on a blind date and met at a Mexican restaurant in El Paso. When we sat down, the conversation came very easy, Matthew ordered for me with confidence since I had only ever had Tex-Mex, and then we stayed chatting for almost two hours. We went on a second date three days later, and the rest is history!
Q. What drew you to each other?
We started dating in 2018 and were long-distance until the spring of 2019, when Matthew graduated from Texas Tech. At the time, I was in graduate school in Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was about five months in, and we both were making an effort to FaceTime each day almost and driving back and forth to spend weekends together. That summer, he made it through almost two weeks with the Madlock family at the lake, and that’s when I knew he was a keeper. We then got stuck in Covid quarantine and lived together the entire year with two moves from Las Cruces to Hot Springs and then Hot Springs to Dallas. At the beginning of 2021, it was clear to both of us it was forever. If we could do long-distance, moving, and COVID together along with the small mountains we conquered, we could do anything together.
Q. Tell us about the proposal.
Matthew proposed the day after Thanksgiving. This was the first Thanksgiving when both of our families were together. My entire family somehow disguised this as a family photo shoot at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs. The photographer was a sorority friend, and the entire day I had no idea. We did quite a few full family photos when Claire asked for Matthew and me to do some by ourselves. She was telling us how to pose. She told me to turn around, and immediately I knew. My whole family counted down from three, and when I turned around, there he was on his knee, holding the ring we designed together at Alexander’s. It was such a joyful day full of happy tears that ended in a surprise party at my grandparents’ house with all our closest friends and extended family.
Q. Tell us about your wedding party. Who was in it, and why?
Our wedding party consisted of our closest friends and family.
My maid of honor was my sister, Parker Ellyn Madlock.
My bridesmaids were from all the amazing chapters of my life. Laura Davis, my best friend since K-3 at St. James Day School. Charley Marissa Hawkins, my cousin/basically sister. Laura Beth Bloomfield and Chandler Franklin my best college friends from Ouachita Baptist. Julia Mendoza, my best grad school friend from New Mexico State.
My house party was my cousin Arianna Donalson and my best friend from Texas High, Rachel Qualls.
Matthew’s best man, Alex Arias, was his best friend/basically brother from Pre-K.
His groomsmen were his cousin, Dean Page, Jacob Federico, Alexander Garcia, Jonathan Sime, and Julian Cooper, all best friends from middle and high school.
Our ring bearers were our nephews, Elijah and Rhen Hawkins. Our flower girls were family friends, Lillian Harper Shipp, Lydia Shipp, and Anna Kate Carpenter.
Q. What was your favorite part of your wedding?
Our favorite part of our wedding is too hard to choose. We woke up to rain, but it was truly good luck. The entire day was calm, and everything fell right into place. Our two favorite moments are almost the same. The first was our first look. We initially didn’t want to do one, but we finally decided yes and used this moment to read our vows to each other privately. It was a full 10 minutes of it just being us, sharing our favorite memories and the reasons we fell in love with each other. Our second favorite moment varies just a tad. His version is the 5 minutes we had before we entered our reception and did our first dance. We spent all five minutes catching up and being in shocked that we were finally married. My version is right after. We entered our reception to the sound of our joyful guests and then did our first dance, that we spent SO much time practicing.
Q. Were there any unique challenges when planning your wedding?
We chose not to hire a wedding planner; because of this, we felt that we were fully invested in each part of the day. My sister created all the printed materials, which was a fun collaboration. Matthew, Parker Ellyn, and I also did all the signs, menus, table cards, and personalized decor and gifts ourselves. Keeping up with every aspect of planning and designing was the most challenging, but being a perfectionist and a lover of spreadsheets, it worked out like a dream in the end. Even though there were stressful parts of planning by ourselves without a professional, throughout the day it was amazing to see all of our work come together so beautifully.
Q. Were there any unique features of your wedding that made it different from traditional weddings?
We did a few different things we felt were unique or hadn’t seen in person. We had a string quartet for our ceremony. They personally arranged the version of Dancing Queen that I walked down the aisle with. We also had a phone as our guest book where all guests could leave us voicemails. This turned out to be our favorite post-wedding gift to ourselves. All our friends and family left us more than 20 minutes' worth of advice, laughter, tears, and so much love that we can listen to any time! The last unique part of our wedding is our wedding rings themselves. My engagement ring is a diamond from my great-grandfather with my birthstone on either side. My wedding band is half of my grandmother's original wedding ring. Matthew’s wedding band is half new and half his late father's wedding band. He now has half, and his mom wears the other half on a necklace. It was important to us that our rings weren’t just new jewelry that we liked but had family significance besides, our families are very important to us both.
Q. Did you go on a honeymoon? Where?
Crazy enough, we have not been on a honeymoon yet. We had a beautiful honeymoon booked in the Dominican Republic, but a month out it was destroyed by a hurricane. We are now in the process of doing a full 180 and planning a trip to Italy.
Q. What makes your love story special?
Shortly after we first met, Matt moved to Japan, and somehow despite all the physical distance we kept putting between the two of us, we only got closer. Our love story might look pretty common on paper, but to us, it just feels, unlike anything that could have ever happened before.
Q. What about your life together are you most excited about?
We are most excited to go through every chapter that comes next with our best friend. Celebrating achievements, starting a family, overcoming obstacles, doing everyday life, and ending each day together. Doing life with your best friend is such a blessing.
Bride’s Parents’ Names: Kim & Jeff Madlock
Groom’s Parents’ Names: Sheri Althoff
Vendors used:
Wedding location—McKinney, Texas
Wedding location—Bella Donna Chapel
Reception location—Stonebridge Ranch Country Club
Flowers—Haute Floral
Musicians—McKinney Philharmonic Orchestra
Rentals— Generation Tux & AM Linens
Photographer—Laney Media - Claire Seale & Hannah Tingle
Catering—Stonebridge Ranch Country Club
Cake—The London Baker
Dress—Lowe’s Bridal
Hair—About Face Pros
Makeup—About Face Pros, Tina Adams-Mason
Band/DJ—LaForce Entertainment Group
Custom Graphics—Parker Ellyn Madlock
