After extensive consideration, prayer, and casting of lots, Erin and Jad decided to postpone their wedding until June 12, 2021 because pandemic. They still wanted to get married, mind you. So, they worked with their splendiferous families to plan a wedding in only six days. On the day of the wedding, April 30, 2020, Erin's and Jad's beloved parents and siblings headed to Jad's parents' backyard. The breeze was breezy, the sun was sunny, and the magical sunset wedding was, well, magic-y. One could not have dreamed of a more beautiful day. Of course, we cannot wait to celebrate with all y'all on June 12, 2021 when we hope it will be safe to do so! Go to https://youtu.be/c4mM1zxA_TU to check out the beautiful video of the special day!

The month was July and the year was 2016. Jad, the videographer, saw Erin, the bridesmaid, and thought, "Whoa! I must procure a dance with this stunningly beautiful woman." So he did. (A few dances, actually!) Jad felt the chemistry so he stayed after the wedding to help move the ferns (there were so many ferns) to talk with Erin. Once most people had left, Jad propositioned the group, which included Erin, "Let's go to Waffle House." The proposition was almost immediately denied as the group was tired. #Boooooo And such was the end of the unrequited chemistry. Or was it?!? Approximately two months later, on the celebration of the day of Jad's thirtieth lap around the sun, Erin texted Jad the obligatory "Happy Birthday!" text. She also asked if Jad, with his scrumtrulescent videography skillz, had caught a funny moment from the wedding ceremony on camera. (He had.) From this initial text, a budding textual relationship blossomed between Erin and Jad. After a couple of weeks of furious texting, Jad said, "Hey, we should get together." Erin said, "OK but I'm in med school and basically trapped in Charleston and can never leave so can you come here?" Jad said, "Sure!" So Erin and Jad met in Charleston. Their first date consisted of lunch in a laundromat (thanks, Sally!), walking around fine art galleries pretending to be experts so they could eat free food and drink, shagging to a live band during a party they crashed at the Charleston Yacht Club, and crossing the Cooper River Bridge *both ways* with feet that, by nearly 1AM, were about to give up on life. Neither Erin nor Jad told the other about their dying feet for fear of ending the date. Alas, the date finally ended well after the witching hour but thankfully many, many, many, mannnnnny more dates followed in the splendiferously beautiful days since. And now, we're here. And so are you! We're so glad you're here too and can't wait to celebrate together!

After nearly three years of long-distance dating that spanned cities, states, and continents, med school, grad school, and residency, and all the life in between, Jad and Erin were ready to seal the deal. And FINALLY close the gap. They were making their second annual pilgrimage to their happy place, the Moon River Music Festival in Chattanooga, and decided to make a weekend of it. The day before they were hoping to hike, but given an excessive amount of road rash and a mild concussion (#PSA: the Swamp Rabbit trail takes no prisoners) Erin wasn't exactly at the peak of her physical abilities. So Jad told her that he had a plan. "I found this awesome place that's usually closed to the public, and since I know you hate trespassing and going to jail and losing your medical license, I've figured out a legitimate way to get us in there." He told her he'd contacted some nature photographers who were connected with the land trust, and they'd agreed to allow them to come along on a shoot. The condition was that Erin and Jad had to let them take some pics, since they were trying to expand their portfolios and get into family photography. Now, at this point, half of you are probably thinking "HOW did Erin not see this coming?" and the other half know Jad Taylor and realize this is really not that outside the box for him. Also concussions. And that, dear friends and family, is how Erin ended up hiking in a dress. The photographers (Victoria and Daniel) were lovely and totally legitimate, but Erin did think at times "Wow, they seem pretty good at this for it to be their first time". Finally the couple got down to the biggest waterfall in the park. Victoria said "Why don't y'all face away from each other and I'll count to three, then turn around and pretend like you haven't seen each other for six months." Erin was thinking, "Of course, because England". But when she turned around, Jad was down on one knee with a ring in hand. And the rest, as they say, is history...