We met at The Coop, a college bar where Justin had worked as a bouncer for a while and I had just been hired as a bartender. Everyone at the bar was very close knit, so in just a couple weeks, we were hanging out with the same group of people both at work and outside of work. Justin caught my eye pretty early on and I started to pursue him, but he was pretty oblivious to my intentions for months (despite choosing to sit next to me no matter where we were, but not understand that I was flirting with him). A couple of months later, we become inseparable and have been ever since.

It was our third Thanksgiving we were spending together and Justin's parents had come down from New Jersey to have dinner at my moms house. We always take family photos together at the house, but that year, my sister Shelbi told me we were talking pictures somewhere else. We drove together down to McAdenville (otherwise known as Christmas Town U.S.A) and Blake, my brother in law said he needed Justin really quick. They walked a head of us and I could tell Shelbi was stalling me by pointing out all the buildings on the other side of the road. I turned the corner and there Justin was at the end of a pathway that was lined in candles, standing in front of a massive brick fireplace waiting for me! Once I got down there, I was so giddy and nervous I said "YES" before he even spoke. The rest was a blur! Later on, Justin told me that the night before I had slept right on top of my ring!

Justin and I decided to go to the courthouse to get married exactly one week after the proposal. We drove up to Statesville, where Shelbi and my mom were our witnesses. We got our marriage license and then walked over to the detention center to the magistrate. We walked into the door, where a man was sitting behind some plexiglass and told him we were there to get married. He stood up and said "Okay. Are you going to put your purse down? Do you have rings?" and to our shock, we got married right there in the lobby as a women was brought in by cops in handcuffs. The "ceremony" lasted about 5 seconds and we were sent into a fit of laughter at how comical the entire thing was! We stopped at Chick-fil-a on the way home and Justin carried me into the house right before I had to get ready to go to work!

We decided just in case we didn't end up wanting to have a big wedding, to have a micro-wedding in the mountains with our friend Daniel as the photographer. We all drove up to Max Patch, on a very cold and windy Saturday morning. We said our vows, had a first dance, and got some amazing photos before heading down to Asheville to hop around some breweries for the rest of the day! We ended the night playing games at my moms house!

We look forward to renewing our vows and having a big wedding celebration with everyone! Thank you all for being a part of our (many) special day(s)!