Charlie and I met when I showed up at his high school's Fall Festival. My little brother went to the same school as Charlie and my parents were scheduled to work one of the booths at the festival. So after basketball practice I got dropped off at the school to see some friends, that just so happened to be in Charlie's class. Now remember... I had just come from basketball practice so I had on Nike shorts, an oversized sweatshirt, Ugg boots and my hair was a mess. Needless to say, I was NOT trying to impress anyone. After getting dropped off at the festival I met up with my friends and was introduced to this cute, tall, dark headed guy with a bright orange sweatshirt and royal blue sweatpants on. And if anyone knows me, you know that I cannot handle a mismatched outfit, but something about this guy immediately gave me butterflies; and I guess my after basketball/tomboyish look did something right because for the rest of the night we made flirty comments to each other, constantly trying to one up the other, because we are both so competitive and wanted the other one to think we were so cool. *currently laughing at us, because we are both so lame but we love it.* When the night came to an end I was the one who initiated getting Charlie's number, even though he will deny that to this day, and we texted through the night. After constantly texting for about a week Charlie surprised me by asking me to his homecoming dance... which took place 2 days after he asked, (I guess I should have taken this as a sign for how my future would go :) I am a planner. He is not!) But of course I said yes, frantically found dress, got myself together and danced the night away with the tall, cute, dark headed boy who won me over with his mismatched outfit, witty comebacks and sweet smile! The rest is history... now here we are almost NINE years later! It has been the most perfect journey so far, I cannot wait to see what our future holds as Husband and Wife!

On Monday, August 3rd, 2020, I got a text from my friend Ericka asking if I could take pictures of her and her boyfriend, Devin, on the following Wednesday, August 5th. Of course, I agreed, who doesn't love taking sweet pictures of their friends, right? Ericka told me that Devin works pretty late, so we decided that she would pick me up around 8pm and the 3 of us would go to downtown Dallas, Ga. to take the pictures. I was only expecting it to be me, Ericka and Devin because Charlie had told me that he was having to work late, which is very normal! So I got ready (Ericka told me to dress cute so we could get some updated pictures) and waiting on Ericka and Devin to pick me up. When we got to downtown we went to the gazebo and Ericka started "checking the lighting" on the camera and Devin was "checking out the scenery," I was just standing there like a knot on a log, because I had no idea what either of them were doing. Clearly, they were stalling, because the entire time Ericka and Charlie had been cahoots and had been in contact and she was waiting for him to walk up. Still, at this point, I am clueless, so I walk to the middle of the gazebo to look for some possible picture option spots. Then I turn around and here comes Charlie out from the other side of the gazebo. I knew, right then, what was happening and immediately started freaking out. After 8 and a half years, I was anxiously awaiting this day, so before Charlie could even get down on one knee I was saying "YES!" Even though I had already said yes, he still got down on one knee and properly asked me to spend forever with him... and the rest is a fairytale! We embraced each other in hugs, laughed, took pictures, called our families and friends and just enjoyed the most perfect moment! Here is to forever, we are getting MARRIED!

Black Tie Optional