We're Getting Married!

Freshman year of high school, bright and early in leadership class, my cousins insisted on introducing me to one of their fellow Larry's Produce co-workers. I met him with a simple, "Hi, I'm Andrea" and he replied with a nod and said, "Carson, nice to meet you." Without much thought, I went on with my day not knowing I just met my future husband. Homecoming season comes around and it is time for dance partners to be assigned. Little did I know, Carson secretly requested to be my dance partner. We then spent the next few weeks learning how to slow dance together. “Wow, he is so serious… but he is also sweet and funny,” I often thought to myself as he slowly began to catch my interest. Fast forward and sophomore year begins. We were randomly seated next to each other in English class. Apparently everyone around us noticed the many smiles and laughs shared between us. I think it was safe to say, crushes were beginning to develop. As young teens without our licenses, our first date was just across the street from our high school to get frozen yogurt. Similarly, our second date started off with us being dropped off by our parents at the local movie theater to watch the Lazarus Effect. We were just young teenagers with sweaty palms and butterflies flying around in our stomachs as we tried to impress one another. Shortly after our first few dates, my family was forced to endure the song 'Love Me Like You Do' playing over and over as I annoyingly belted out the lyrics with Carson in mind. Meanwhile, Carson's parents were often driving him across town as he made any excuse to hang out. Just a few weeks later, on March 20th, 2015, in the same spot we first met, I turned around to Carson holding a bouquet of flowers. He then asked me, "Will you be my girlfriend?" and I replied with an excited "Yes!". Fast forward a whole decade later and now these high school sweethearts are tying the knot!

Anyone who knows Andrea knows she needs a plan. Now I couldn’t just ask her when she wanted to be proposed to, but we did have multiple conversations of the best time for me to ask her as she was going through the trials and tribulations of medical school. The consensus was, some time in between second and third year, to have our wedding fourth year when both of us would have time to plan the event. We went ring shopping so she could see that the vision I had was wayyyyy better than the vision she had. Andrea also wanted to make sure that the proposal itself was in front of all our friends and loved ones to witness, while I wanted a small, intimate affair that was witnessed by few, heard by even fewer. Ultimately, we decided that it would be up to me to surprise her. So, I consulted the council of advisors (her closest friends and sisters) in order to plan the proposal a decade in the making. Should we travel somewhere? Who would be there to see it? There obviously had to be a photographer. What about someone to do a Nascar-esque pit stop on her to touch up her make up, hair, and clothes right before it happened? So many questions I ran past the council who all put their heads together to advise. I came to the conclusion to propose after a wine tasting date at a family friend’s vineyard in our hometown. We had a flight of wine and I bought a bottle of our favorite to take home with us. After our flight of wine, I took Andrea into the vineyards where a select few of her friends were waiting to execute the aforementioned pit stop. I then took her into the middle of the vineyards where only the two of us would hear, exchanged words, got down on one knee, and she was so excited, she was practically begging me to get up so I could put the ring on her finger for her to see. Of course, I had to include everyone at some point, and that came as the final surprise of the evening when we went to my parents' house for her to find all our immediate family and close friends to celebrate in person. After the initial celebration, we extended FaceTime calls to our extended family before taking to social media to inform everyone!