With everything going on in the world, we made the decision to say "I do" and begin married life on August 7, 2020 (best decision ever!). Despite the 2 week decision to move everything up, The Lord truly showed His hand in all our planning and pulling everything together. Time and time again, we reflect on how everything fell in place and on August 7, 2020, we said our "I do's" surrounded by our parents and grandparents. We got married in Calvary Baptist by Pastor Keith Harrill, which is the church that Banks grew up in and by the Pastor who baptized Banks. We both agree that this day was everything we never knew we wanted as we were able to fully just enjoy one another without the hustle and bustle of a normal wedding day. We were able to have a "mini reception" and cut a cake on Aunt Casey's front porch along with having our first dance and a fun send off. As perfect as our day was, we were missing one thing: our family and friends. We will be celebrating with all our family, bridal party, and friends in Debordieu on our one year anniversary- August 7, 2021. We are so grateful for all of your love and support as we started our married life, and we cannot wait to celebrate with all of you on our one year anniversary. We know our "wedding part two" will be such a special event as we will get to enjoy the evening with all of you!
Our story starts with our sweet mommas- they were college friends. Fast forward to our freshmen year of high school, my mom took Coleman and me to a Clemson game and we tailgated with Will's family, which is the first time I remember meeting Will. Summer after sophomore year of high school, Will came to the beach and asked me to go play putt putt. We had so much fun, but we were content to stay friends for the time being because of the distance. We kept up regularly throughout junior year but did not see one another. Summer before senior year, we traded shirts at Boys State/Girls State and after that, we began talking regularly. Once I decided to go to Clemson (Will decided on Clemson when he was 3), we started talking about the idea of dating once we got to Clemson. The more we talked, the more we knew there was no reason to wait to date for Clemson. We both asked each other to our senior year proms and started dating in March of senior year... and the rest is history! We dated all throughout our time at Clemson and created the greatest memories in our favorite place together and with our friends.
Throughout the fall, I began looking for a ring and a perfect time to propose. Both of us had planned to begin our careers in Greenville, so I knew proposing there could symbolize the start of our lives together post-college. Banks had an inclination the proposal was approaching and began questioning anything I planned to try to see what I would give away. After a lot of planning, I found a spot I liked along the Reedy River with a backdrop of the bridge and a little tucked away from the busyness of Falls Park. I told Banks we were going to a nice dinner at Larkin's On the River that night to celebrate the end of our first semester of grad school. We spent most of the dinner talking about how excited we were to get engaged soon. Banks did not realize the proposal would be happening so soon that night. It had been pouring rain all day so I decided to ask her after dinner and hoped the rain would go away. After dinner, we walked back along the river until I found the spot I wanted to ask the question. As we approached the spot and I got down on one knee, both of our sisters were hiding in the bushes with cameras ready to capture the big moment. After that, we celebrated our engagement with our friends and family over the weekend.