Southern Weddings

I’ve read a lot of wedding interviews in my time at SW, but can say, without a doubt, that none have been sweeter than Taylor’s account of how he met and eventually won over his lovely bride. (If you don’t usually, you’ll definitely want to read this couple’s sweet story!) After a whirlwind two month engagement, Laurie Anne + Taylor exchanged vows at the Aldridge Gardens, with Stephen Devries on hand to document their intimate service. The bride, in a Bella Couture gown, pulled out all the stops when it came to planning to outfitting her wedding party: pearl gray mix-and-match frocks from J. Crew with coordinating wraps (my favorite), cowboy boots and crisp gray suits for the gents. Laurie Anne’s veil was a Charlsie and Linda Designs creation, and Carol Riley of Lillie’s styled arrangements of lush blue hydrangeas. We’ll see you back here for Part II!

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. (From the groom) We met in ethics class our junior year of college at Auburn University. I was already in class our first day when I saw Laurie Anne walk in. We quickly became close friends that semester. We both liked each other, but I was moving back to Birmingham and she was staying in Auburn. We lost touch and I spent the next three years trying to get over her. By this time I was living in NYC and thought she was out of my life for good. I had deleted her number from my phone and cut off all connection with her in an attempt to really move on. Next thing I know, I have a Facebook message from Laurie Anne telling me she is coming to NYC for a work trip and that she wants to hang out. So here is where I really tried to move on from her. I messaged her back, finally telling her how I really felt and have felt about her since the day we met, fully expecting her to respond like, “Sorry, I had no idea.” But instead her message back to me was a confession about how she has not been able to get me out of her heart, either. We talked on the phone for hours and within two days, she had a plane ticket to come visit me. That was easily the best give days of my life. Somehow the city was practically empty everywhere we went. Several times throughout the weekend we had stumbled our words and almost told each other “I love you,” but had managed to catch ourselves. But after a ferry ride to Staten Island, while sitting at the harbor looking towards Manhattan, I finally told Laurie Anne that I loved her. From there we had the greatest long distance relationship possible. Jesus blessed us with a very generous amount of sky miles, free plane tickets and time off work to where the longest we went without seeing each other was only three weeks…which was torture! A month and a half later, I had quite my job and was returning to Birmingham to get my bride.

Describe the proposal. Since Laurie Anne and I worked together, it made surprising her with a proposal a little tricky. I would pick her up on the way to work and after work would hang out with her until we got tired and then I would head home. So there was really no time to surprise her. I figured my only chance to catch her off guard was the only time we were apart: while she was asleep. The night before, I had been praying about how to go about this proposal and the Lord told me to open my Bible. I randomly opened to a very familiar chapter I had been dwelling on for the past year and began to read. I woke up before the sun, and planned to get to her house at sunrise. I snuck into her room at sunrise, knelt down at the side of her bed and woke her up. I read my promise to her and asked her to marry me. She said, “Yes!!!!”