Christina Heller & Brad Ogle planning a musical merging next summer

Before Christina Heller met Brad Ogle, she never expected that she’d fall in love with a shy guy. She and her son Michael were living in Spokane when mutual friends of Christina and Brad suggested the two of them become friends on Facebook. Soon, the two of them become friends. Friendship gave way to unconditional love, and on July 12, 2014, at the Knights of Columbus, it will become a union when the two exchange vows. Theirs will be a marriage built on a solid foundation, reinforced with a lot of metal – the musical kind, of course. “It’s not a traditional wedding, because we’re not traditional people. We’re music people. We love heavy metal and we love punk music, so we’re doing a rock-punk thing,” said Christina. She and her fiancé found music – presumably the louder the better — to be a very common ground that’s able to bridge the gap between her wild side and his quiet personality. “To all of our friends, I’m fire and he’s water. I’m spontaneous and wild,” Christina said, “And he kind of mellows me down. I bring him out of his little shell.” Christina and Brad share three dogs, one of which played a role in Brad’s proposal. Keyster is a black lab mix that Christina and Brad got just six months into their relationship. When it came time for Brad to pop the question, he used a red ribbon (Christina’s favorite color) to tie the engagement ring to the dog. Keyster sat by Christina and waited for her to notice. “It was very special,” Christina said about the proposal. “Keyster has always been like one of our kids.” Plans for their rock-inspired ceremony include black Dickies shirts with red ties, plus black and red checkered Vans shoes for the gentlemen, and black dresses with red high heels for the ladies. Christina’s wedding gown is white with black trim, and the flowers will be Christina’s favorites, red roses. The first dance Christina and Brad have planned as husband and wife will be “Forever” by KISS, which is a choice they put a great deal of thought into. “We were trying to find something romantic, but it’s hard to find heavy metal music with romantic songs. It’s all loud and thrashing. It took us weeks to find a song,” she said. “When we thought of KISS, we listened to the song over and over and it just fit our personalities.” Having the ceremony at the Knights of Columbus is somewhat of a tradition in Brad’s family. “His sister got married there, his dad got married there, his dad is a member there, so he thought it would be nice to have the wedding there,” Christina said. The wedding will come not long after Christina’s son, Michael’s high school graduation. Having a graduation party followed by a wedding will mean a very busy start to next summer, but one that she’s excited to share with the love of her life. “It’s unconditional love,” she said. “He loves me just for who I am and he does whatever he can to make me happy.”