We Still Do!

Appalachian State University, nestled in the mountains of Boone, NC, is home to some of Asheville and Taylorsville's finest. Multiple generations of college students from the two towns coincidentally crossed paths, and a group of friends from AC, TCR, and ACR found themselves frequenting "The Cabin" on many occasions. When Alyson and Stedman met at The Cabin, it didn't take long before Stedman's dance moves were featured on Alyson's "Vine" account (Spoiler Alert: the same moves will be demonstrated at the wedding). In the past five years since then, there has been no shortage of dancing and laughing. Cheers to being dance partners forever!

I thought that our 4 year anniversary was the perfect time to ask Alyson to marry me, and surprise the heck out of her! She came over after school so that I could take us to Burntshirt Vineyard in Hendersonville, somewhere we had been planning to go to for a while. Naturally, I was pretty worried my nervousness would give away the surprise, but I knew she had no clue what was going to happen when I looked over and she was dead asleep in the car on the way there! The events coordinator had us a space by ourselves to enjoy some wine and snacks (her absolute favorites). I stepped away after a short time there to "ask the lady to take our picture." It was all part of the scheme and she photographed and videoed the proposal! Success! Our families joined us later to add icing on the cake to a perfect day. She's stuck with me now!

All of the sudden, we found ourselves right in the middle of a National Pandemic. Our wedding plans, 18 months in the making, came to an abrupt 180 turn. We wanted to keep everyone safe... So, what did we do? Well, we took a few deeeeep breaths, found a date that our vendors were available one year later, and postponed the big celebration. We couldn't imagine waiting a another year to get married, so we called our immediate family, the Preachers, and the Videographer. We tied the knot in an intimate and special ceremony at the exact spot we originally planned to be married. After that, we met our bridal party back at our house (newly purchased and barely furnished) and we soaked up every minute with some of our closest friends and family. We ate dinner in the driveway and danced in the back yard! We had the reception a year later with all of our favorite people, and it was worth the wait. We like to say we got the best of BOTH worlds!