Our Story

My husband and I met on a blind date for lunch and it went so well that we had our second date later the same day. He took me to a grassy field next to a lake in McKinney and described a village he was going to build there called "Adriatica". He'd spent years studying Croatian villages, and he was going to build one. As he showed me the plan on paper, walking me around excitedly explaining how it would look. Suddenly, he stopped and told me he intended to build a chapel where we were standing and he wanted to be the first to be married there. Somehow we both knew instantly that we were destined to spend the rest of our lives together.

We were married October 6, 2005, on the site of the future chapel and during our ceremony, placed a Bible beneath an altar of loose stones as we vowed to build our marriage on the foundation of God's Word. Followed by our small ceremony were several trips to Italy and Croatia to find the perfect building materials and finally, in November 2010, our little chapel was complete. My husband chose to make me the chapel's namesake and said Bella Donna was his gift to me.

For a moment, time stood still as the doors to the sanctuary opened and I locked eyes with the handsome man waiting for me at the altar. As I began the breathtaking walk down the aisle to renew our wedding vows in the place where our lives together had begun five years earlier, little did I know that hundreds of couples would also stand in the same place of opportunity; to make vows to one another stand on the foundation of God's Word.

Bella Donna has been a blessing in my life in many ways. I've prayed there, sometimes cried, and often rejoiced there. It's a joy to invite others into this place that is so special to me. Whether it is the mourning of a lost loved one or the beginning of a new life together, I welcome you to encounter life's defining moments at Bella Donna Chapel.

-Donna Blackard