Getting the scoop on love
Couple’s fondness for fun, family and ice cream led to the altar.
TULSA — The ice cream label said “Groom’s Cake,” and Lauryn Schack thought it was an odd flavor choice for her boyfriend, Luke Balke.
They had forgotten to stop at a local frozen custard shop after their date, but he suddenly had remembered that he already had the frozen treat in his fridge.
“Looking back, this should’ve tipped me off. I don’t know how you forget you have ice cream!” Schack said.
Soon, another ice cream label caught her eye.
This one said “Bride’s Cake.”
She did a double take before her eyes found what Balke really hoped she would see — an open ring box sitting right in the middle of the two sweet treat containers.
Schack’s mind slowly began to process it all and before she could say “Blue Bell,” Balke was down on one knee offering her a ring and a marriage proposal.
“I started crying, having not had the time to mentally prepare myself for this moment,” she said. “Luke knelt down and asked me to marry him. After reminding me a minute later that I hadn’t responded, through the happy tears, I finally laughed and said ‘yes!’”
The August 2017 proposal was fitting because the couple’s fun-loving dating experiences included such creative touches that made their time together exciting and unique.
The Tulsans met in 2016 through the Tinder dating app. They married on April 14 in a simple and festive ceremony.
Balke, 26, was an engineer, and Schack, 25, was a human resources recruiter when they had their first online conversation. The pair decided to meet for a drink, and that drink turned into a meal that lasted longer than they expected it would.
“Our drink after work turned into a meal, and when I finally looked at my watch, we’d been there three hours. I was so pleasantly surprised how many little things we had in common and how easy it was to talk to him,” Schack said.
Balke said he remembered that he liked Schack’s online photo in which she wore what he described as “thick-rimmed hipster glasses.”
The two kept things interesting — beginning with Balke.
For his 25th birthday, he thought it would be fun for the couple to visit a thrift store
called Cheap Thrills and purchase an outfit to surprise each other with at dinner that night. They laughed when they both came to the meal wearing 1970s-era clothing.
When Schack couldn’t seem to wait until December to celebrate their first Christmas together, she came up with the idea for the couple to commemorate the holiday in June. They wore Christmas sweaters and ate Christmas cookies while watching her favorite holiday movie, “It’s A Wonderful Life.” They even exchanged small gifts.
Another time, they created their own “paint and sip” date, which was another of Schack’s ideas. Along with homemade pizza and lemonade, “we bought canvases, paints, snacks and sat on his balcony to paint the neighbors’ house across the street,” she said. “It was fun.”
FAMILY MATTERS
For Schack, Balke’s family and how he related to them helped her realize that he was becoming important to her.
“I definitely knew that I liked Luke, but I think when I met his parents and I met his older brother and sister-in-law and kind of saw how similar they were to my family and how inclusive they were and how warm they were, I just felt comfortable around them immediately and felt at home. I just knew that since he comes from a family like that and he has this upbringing and these roots, that made me kind of fall in love with Luke,” she said.
“Luke is gracious and quick to forgive, a genuinely nice person to all and deeply loyal. He’s the funniest person I know.”
Balke said he liked the natural way he and Schack were with one another.
“Everything just felt easy and natural. Nothing ever felt like I was trying to be someone else. I don’t think she was trying to be someone else. I felt like we clicked really well,” he said. “It didn’t take too long to realize we didn’t have any major differences or any things that wouldn’t have us working together. Months in, everything felt easy.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Getting married? Tell us your love story to be considered for a future edition of the ongoing series “With This Ring.” Send your name, city, wedding date and other pertinent information to Carla Hinton, c/o The Oklahoman, PO Box 25125, Oklahoma City, OK 73125 or email chinton@oklahoman.com.