Liz Arkills and Mike Small create special bond

At Spokane’s Glover Mansion on Nov. 19, the creaking of oak floors coupled with happy chatter echoed through the softly lit entryway. Friends and family of Liz Arkills and Mike Small took their seats as soft music began to play. A hush fell across the room as Liz Arkills made her way down the central staircase, wearing a sleeveless white gown. Fifteen minutes later, Liz Arkills became Mrs. Mike Small. This story really began five years ago when Liz started a new job at a call center and was placed next to Mike Small. “We really hit it off,” she said. “We joked and flirted and teased.” A few weeks later, Mike handed her his phone number. “I asked him if he wanted mine and he said, ‘No. You’ll call me,’” recalled Liz. His confidence was well-placed. They started dating. Like many couples they found opposites really do attract. Liz said, “I’m a little intense. He’s so calm, he mellows me out.” On November 30, 2008, they went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant in Spokane Valley. As soon as they were seated, Mike got up again, only to kneel down in front of her. He proposed with an old-fashioned flourish. “It was a complete surprise!” Liz said. “He’d had the ring for a couple weeks.” The owner of the restaurant promptly sent over a complimentary bottle of wine to congratulate the newly-betrothed couple. They decided on a three-year engagement. Liz said, “I knew I wanted a fancy wedding and we wanted to save for it.” For a bride who admits she’s obsessed with Kirkland Cutter architecture, the Glover Mansion was the ideal venue. “We booked it two years in advance,” she said. Her elegant A-line dress was also a perfect fit. “It was the first dress I looked at!” She chose black and turquoise as her wedding colors and let her six attendants choose their own dresses. The result? A classy array of styles, accentuating the bride’s understated gown and sheer fingertip-length veil. Pastor Paul Rodkey from Bethany Presbyterian officiated the ceremony. As candles flickered in a cozy alcove at the mansion Rodkey said, “We are gathered in the midst of a divided and broken world. We are here to worship God and marry this couple.” Rodkey’s familiarity with Liz and Mike resulted in lots of laughter during the ceremony, but when Mike recited his vows to Liz, the tears began to flow. The couple chose to enact the sand ceremony, where each took a vial of colored sand and poured it into one container. “The sand ceremony shows that as they come together in relationship, they each hold their own identities,” explained Rodkey. And then it was time. While their guests smiled and sighed, Liz and Mike Small exchanged their first kiss as man and wife. They exited the room to the strains of Jason Mraz’s “Lucky.” In lieu of gifts, the couple asked their guest to make donations to the Spokane Humane Society or the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. After a reception at the Glover Mansion, the couple spent a week honeymooning in Cancun, Mexico. As Liz reflected on their special day, she said what all brides-to-be hope they will be able to say, “It was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a better wedding.”