“Come on, there’s a guy you have to meet,” Melanie’s older sister Jill told her as she dragged her across the wedding reception. And that was the first time Melanie met Nate, one of Jill’s Coast Guard pilot friends. It didn’t last much longer than a couple awkward hellos before Melanie was swept away into the wedding festivities. But Jill would not be deterred, and the next month she arranged a double date at Fairhope Brewery with the promise to Melanie that the pilots wouldn’t spend the whole time talking about airplanes. When it came time to go grab some pizza, Jill shouted, “Mel, you ride with Nate!” as she walked out the door. After pizza, wings, and trivia, before they parted ways a nervous Melanie asked Nate for his phone number. Nate figured if Melanie didn’t mind his dumpy old pickup truck, she was probably worth it, and asked for hers in return. Living on opposite sides of Mobile Bay, at first they met in the middle: Felix’s Fish Camp for dinner, the USS Alabama for a tour. They then took turns meeting up in Fairhope or Mobile as their love slowly grew. When the Coast Guard moved Nate to Cape Cod, Melanie followed him north. It wasn’t long before on a cold Valentine’s Day morning at Nobska lighthouse Nate dropped down on one knee and asked Melanie for her hand in marriage. She happily said yes. Their journey has brought them from one wedding to another: their own.