Although weddings are spectacular, unforgettable festivals of love, where any and all have the best of times, actually planning the deal is tough. You have to account for a million things, from guest list to centerpieces to song selection. You visit more venues than you knew existed and you try more food than you ever expected, always returning home to discuss those very many, very tiny details with each other for what seems like an eternity.

But what if you could skip all that and still have the wedding of your dreams? It sounds impossible, but a man named Brock did just that for his lady love, Molly Kate. He delivered a wild, romantic, and surprise two-day celebration, all to blow her away. Brock was so sure Molly Kate would marry him that he already had the wedding ready to go for the day after the proposal, family and all.

Their New York elopement makes for one heck of a love story, and we had to ask how such a big, crazy deal came to be pulled off so perfectly.

Photography by Joel Alexander

Tell us a little bit about yourselves.

Brock: Im a singer/songwriter/actor from AZ, living in LA. I made the move in 2009 and since then have been working with incredible talent on shows like Glee, The Middle, The Goldbergs, to name a few. I have been a session singer for movies like “Sing” and did backup vocals for The Voice and American Idol. It’s been a wild ride and I am so grateful to be one of the few that gets to work and eat from what I’m most passionate about. That's all work, personally I'm a lover of people, and its my goal in life to be a connecter of souls and inspire others to do the same. I love my wife, and find myself to be challenged and inspired by her love and devotion to showing kindness to everyone she comes across.

Molly: Well, I am a small town, Minnesota girl, who is now living in Los Angeles pursuing a career of music, influence & light. The life I am currently living is something I dreamed of as a kid, but I don't think I ever believed it would actually happen. I guess it all kind of started a couple years ago when I wrote a story called "His Daughter." It became my first official song ever, so I uploaded it to Youtube and it went viral. That gave me the opportunity to play on Good Morning America and meet with some serious labels that were interested in seeing my music develop. After I decided to sign with APG (Atlantic records) I started getting right to work. I was flying out to LA every 5-6 weeks to develop my writing by creating music with some of the most talented & successful minds this industry has to offer. One of the most humbling, yet inspiring opportunities of my life. It was one of those trips that I just so happened to meet my writing parter and now life partner, Brock. It's so crazy, cuz before we were even dating, he is the one who helped get my feet planted in LA. It's been our dream to continue writing together, make music to share with the world until we are too old to hold up the pens, but ultimately, love every single person we meet through the process. Which brings me to right now! Recently, I have been so excited about a song called "Good Die Young" that I wrote a couple months ago, but has finally been released. It is an incredible feeling to see something that just started as an idea in my head turn into a tangible piece of art. Truthfully, I guess the best thing I can tell you about myself right now is that I'm about 90% thankfulness and about 10% tacos. Seriously though, I am constantly thanking God for my incredible team, my absolutely UNREAL husband and the taco shop just down the block from me.

How did you two meet? 

Brock: Last year, on a Wednesday night, a friend of a friend was hopping on a plane to Minnesota when he gave me a call. He seemed a little frantic and said “Brock, Ive got a friend from minnesota that really wants to go to bible study tonight and I can’t pick her up because I’m on a plane, can you???! If you can’t then its really ok, Ill just get off of this plane and pick her up myself. She is only here for a couple of days and she’s so sweet and cute. I hope you can. I need this favor.” I was like… “yeah man. No prob. Breathe.” ha! He was so grateful (like it was the biggest deal). I really thought nothing of it. Little did I know that the conversation I was having would change my life forever. I picked her up and then just had to spend every moment with her. I just loved her friendship. I didn’t know why, but if she was in town and she called I WOULD BE THERE. I would make it happen. I knew that if I hung out with her for too long that she was the kind of girl I was gonna marry. Then she went back to Minnesota and we face timed or called almost every day. I couldn’t get enough time with her. We were just best friends, then once I got her to move to LA I was hooked. She had my heart. 

Molly: It was fall of 2015, I was on a writing trip out in LA. There was a church my friends back home were telling me I should check out when i was there. So they gave me the number of someone they knew that went there. Well, that person wasn't able to get me cuz they were on a plane back to Minnesota. So they asked their friend to pick me up. I felt weird about a complete stranger picking me up. But I had no other option. So when Brock showed up with his jet black hair, bright blue eyes & perfect smile... I was pleasantly surprised.

How did you pull this genius surprise elopement off? 

Brock: Im really close with my sister and she and I were on the phone one day talking about how I would ask Molly Kate to marry me, I knew I wanted it to be special, and thought about doing it in a different location other than LA. Since I was a little kid I always wanted to ask a girl to marry me at the empire state building, have a limo pick her up at the airport, a dress ready and made for her, then I would sing her a song and hope that it would seal the deal. I told Blair that was my idea as a kid, and then we decided to make some tweaks. She’s always been my partner in crime. She said “what if you did the NY thing, only you get married the next day?” Now, for any guy to pull this off, you gotta be 100% sure that your girl wants to marry you, and that she is laid back enough for you to plan the whole thing. It takes a really special girl. 

I had an idea that Molly Kate wanted to marry me….only because she had been asking me to marry her a couple of times ,then she would laugh like it was a joke, but it wasn’t. She also kept saying “let’s just run away”. One time I asked her “would you really be ok with that? No Minnesota white wedding, no planning, no family?” She got serious and said “As long as I get you, yeah.” 

I was confident. 

So, I took the skeleton of an idea, and I gave it some life. I’ve been in leadership for years and learned how to delegate. To pull this thing off it was going to take a team of people but I had to be sure that the team was small and could keep a secret.

Step 1: Dress/shoes/engagement outfit -  I had surprised MK with a shopping spree months before when I took her home to meet my family for the first time. My mom is a stylist (@littleolebrooke) and she hooked Molly kate up, and just so happened to get ALL of her Measurements. From there my mom and Nicky Asallas Overman were on Dress Duty (two dresses 1wedding, 1reception) 

Step 2: What was our budget? I called MK’s dad, Kevin, and asked for his blessing (we had never met in person). He said he trusted Molly’s judgment and that he and Mary Jane gave their blessing. Then I told him the plan…. That took a couple weeks convincing, and I still don’t think Mary Jane is convinced. Ha! Anyhow, I had to ask the budget… It was very very small but I had anticipated that. So we had to call in some favors. 

Step 3: Where? Central Park, New York. So I bought some permits. And had to get the flights and hotels for the families.

Step 4: Work: Had to call atlantic and let them know to block dates off… Call it a “writing trip”…and “brock can tag along.”

Step 5: Who is going??? Well, immediate family and whoever could keep a secret. The more people that knew the worse. More than half the budget was taken up by travel. 

Step 6: Pictures: Joel Alexander (@hahajoel) has been a long time friend. He lived in NY and was published with GQ and many other publications. He is incredible and did all of this at the most incredible rate. 

Step 7: Video: Grandparents and some family could not travel due to health or babies…so we wanted to share the moment through video. Sam shelton from Skeletonkey productions is a great videographer and long time friend. He hooked it up.

Step 8: Food: Dad’s, make your calls, find lowest price, make it tasty.

Step 9: Proposal: Plan out the day EXACTLY…with some wiggle room. I wanted there to be no surprises. Bought her good walking shoes, planned where to eat, planned the exact times we would arrive and leave each place (the met, breakfast, taxis, dessert, central park walk, route). Im a meticulous, detailed guy, and this was right up my alley. 

Step 10: Orchestration: I had a some friends at Juliard that called some strings and I orchestrated some of our original music for the strings to play. Other orchestration was done by Dylan Chase and Brandon Kress.

Step 11: Pastors: Our dads did the ceremony. They are both ordained ministers. 

Step 12: Plant the idea:  for months we listened to frank sinatra, watched chick flicks set in new york, talked about broadway shows we wanted to see, and talked of central park in the fall and what that would be like. She said it was her dream to stroll with me there one day in the fall. 

Have you always wanted a surprise elopement? 

Molly: I haven't always dreamed of it. In fact, I grew up with a very "Midwest" mindset when it came to marriage. So I always kind of thought I'd have a traditional wedding. But then I moved to LA, and I fell in love with Brock and suddenly, planning a huge wedding back home only sounded like a bunch of stress. All I cared about was getting to commit to spending forever with my best friend. 

Where in NY did you propose? Any significance why you chose that spot? 

Brock: I proposed in central park at the bethesda fountain. We walked from the MET (she loves art…and Hitch), strolled in the park (her “dream”), and then I got on one knee and said “Molly Kate, I love you. Will you marry me….Tomorrow?”. She said yes, then was in shock as our family was up on the bridge watching the whole thing. From there our family came down and we hugged, had a walk through, and ate. It was the first time our families met, and it meant a lot to have everyone there.

Your reaction? What was going through your head when you found out that within 24 hours you would be married? 

Molly: Honestly, Pure joy. And PEACE believe it or not. Everything just felt right. I mean, imagine saying yes to the love of your life, going to bed, waking up and enjoying your entire wedding day that has already been planned out just the way you would want it. I felt like I was in the best dream of my life for 24 hours straight. Actually, I still kind of feel that way.

Can you share any advice for the guys out there trying to pull off a short engagement/surprise wedding? 

Brock: If you want to pull off a big surprise I advise every guy to be DETAILED and always have a couple back up plans just in case. If you need help ask your mom, sister, grandma. They know what is romantic or what is cheesy. If you need more help, Im always on instagram and twitter. Id be happy to lend some help. Also, Pray a lot. That helped me through most of this.

Credits: 

Photography by Joel Alexander