The adventure begins!

Due to the COVID-19, we are postponing the wedding. We are sad, but fine with the change! The most important thing is everyone's health! We will update the site as soon as we have more information. Until then, 4/4/2020 will have a special place in our heart.

Here is a shorter version of us. Johnny and I met during show rehearsals the week before I started my Master's degree at Southeastern Louisiana University. We clicked instantly, but not in a romantic way since he had a girlfriend and I had been in a serious relationship at the time. A friendship grew that first semester and he even asked me to be a paid singer for his cantata at his church where he is the music director. Even though we were friends, we had never hung out by ourselves until we were cast as the leads for a new Opera "Evangeline". I was playing the role of Evangeline and he was playing my fiancé Gabriel (which is pretty funny now). At this time, he was single and I was still in my long term relationship but I had been having serious doubts for about 5 months. We started hanging out and the more I got to know him the more I realized how great he was, which began to affect how we were on stage. Our first stage kiss, for me, meant nothing, but by the end of the show there were feelings that I had hoped stemmed from a "show crush". Obviously it wasn't a show crush and through a series of events I eventually ended my relationship because I knew I would regret not pursuing something with Johnny and I knew I couldn't marry the man I was with at the time. To be honest, my family was relieved that Johnny entered my life because no one liked my ex. It's funny how God's plan is always better than our own. My dad always maintained that the reason he and my mom didn't get together when they first met was because he wasn't the man he needed to be for her yet. I believe that was the same thing for Johnny and I.

The Proposal: It's funny because the first question people ask me (Analynn) about the proposal is "did you know?". Yes, I did have an inkling! Partially because of my sisters' being ok with going to New Orleans to meet Johnny's family so close to Sarah's birthday and Christmas. Believe it or not Johnny was not the only one stressed about that night. Our families were meeting for the first time. Our parents had not met before and I personally had never been through this before. New experiences are always stressful especially since we had some tired and hungry people in my family. We traveled to New Orleans to see the lights for "Celebration in the Oaks" and had a difficult time finding each other since we entered at different places in the park. We quickly traveled around the park since my family had never been before. It went pretty well! We decided to end the night by the Poinsettia tree and everyone took pictures. Then Johnny said we had to take one more picture in front of this huge, beautiful oak tree covered in white lights that look like they are dripping. I asked him why and he said he thought we had taken one in front of the tree before. I said we hadn't, but I love big oak trees, so I was happy to go! As we walked in front of the tree, I looked at our family and saw everyone with their cell phones out. This was where I knew what was happening for sure! It doesn't matter how many times you picture the moment or if you know exactly what is going to happen, when he drops to that one knee, it takes your breath away. It definitely took mine, even though his opening line was "hold on, I have to tie my shoe!" It was so incredibly special to have both of our families there and I can't wait to marry this wonderful man.

Yes, there was a second proposal, and yes, I did say yes again. The tradition in my family is to pick out the engagement ring together as a couple. Some of us are rather picky, so this is typically in the finacé's best interest. After the first proposal, Johnny and I searched for a ring. The ring he proposed with was stunning, don't get me wrong, but there is something about that tradition that I really love and didn't want to miss out on. Being two hours away from each other combined with crazy schedules made this process difficult. Finally, I found a setting I liked and my family had a diamond we could use (the diamond is actually really sentimental since it was in the brooch my grandmother wore to my parents' wedding.) Weeks went by and the ring still had not come in. I asked Johnny about it, and he said it was back ordered. I was disappointed that it was going to take so long to come in because we were scheduled to take couples pictures in a week or so. I still don't know how he did it, but he was able to retrieve the ring from my mom two days before while she was in Baton Rouge and I was in the room with them. I honestly did not see this transaction. Johnny got down on one knee in front of a beautiful oak tree and asked me again to be his wife, and Jess captured the moment beautifully.