Halloween Night, 2011, I dressed up as a witch, complete with a green face, black wig, and multi colored striped stockings. I borrowed Mom's witch costume and went on a bar crawl in downtown Birmingham. I ran into a good friend of mine who suggested we walk just right down the road to his old high school buddy's Halloween party that was supposed to be amazing! Walking in to this party at a loft apartment on 2nd Avenue, I was surrounded by the coolest retro Halloween decorations, jamming music playing alongside classic Halloween movies, and delicious snacks and treats and many beverages of all sorts. When we arrived, my friend dropped off his homemade apple pie moonshine on the counter and started looking for his buddy, the host. A handsome dude walked up, saw the apple pie moonshine, and quickly helped himself as I exclaimed, "I'M TELLING!", while laughing when he looked a bit guilty. His costume consisted of a white t-shirt on which he had written in sharpie: "Awe.some: [aw-suhm]- Adjective- 1. Extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration or fear, 2. Very good, excellent (See depiction above) We chatted and laughed and wandered around, checking out the party. He was really funny and cute and he disappeared before too long while I wandered around the unfamiliar surroundings. I thought about him afterwards but didn't think to get his last name, so I made sure to send the host, the infamous photographer, Philip E. Griffith, a friend request on Facebook. Philip always sets up a professional photograph booth at his parties, and posts the edited photos a few weeks later, which is a ton of fun! A few days after the party, Philip accepted my friend request and when my photo was posted I was able to tag myself on my green faced witch photo. Shortly thereafter, I got a friend request from the cute AWESOME dude from the party! We chatted a bit more on Facebook and then moved to text. I followed his posts on Facebook and was very charmed by his funny antics with co-workers, his gardening ability, and his pickling skills. We went on our first date with a promise that I would get a jar of "his" famous pickles (actually his Dad's) and he delivered! We went to the Bottletree Cafe (how I miss that place!) and saw the Polyphonic Spree with a couple of his crazy coworkers and had an absolute blast! I was not planning to go to a Halloween Costume Party that night, complete with a photoshoot from a professional photographer, but it was certainly meant to be! And if you have made it this far, this is why we decided to have a Halloween Costume Wedding! We want to celebrate how we met and to have a fabulous time with our family and friends!

We went to Gulf Shores to stay with some of Hunter's family friends to watch the big Louisiana vs. Alabama Football Game, which was a yearly tradition for his parents. We walked out on the beach to a beautiful day, the waves crashing on the shore, birds flying overhead and running through the surf. Hunter got down on one knee in the sand and presented me with a very special ring, the one that his father first gave to his beloved wife Deby so many years ago. He asked me if I would marry him. I was swept up in the moment, chattering and laughing with happiness, and he said, "Should I take that as a yes?" "YES!!!" There is so much sentimental importance in this ring for us both, and I will treasure it, and this amazing man, for the rest of my life!