February 2, 2024
It all began when one of Rachel’s high school friends begged her to tag along to a fall ball game one September evening. After some convincing, Rachel caved and happened to interact with a boy she had seen around but never actually talked to. They hit it off immediately, and Cross wasted no time messaging Rachel that night. After texting back and forth, an infamous first date at Waffle House, and hours of talking, the rest was history.
As high school sweethearts, the time came to go off to college. Cross left for Virginia Tech and Rachel for James Madison University. While the distance was hard, and as most people said ‘impossible’, they were determined to make it work. A little under one year away from their graduation, Cross decided to take Rachel on a surprise date. As usual, Rachel wasn’t ready on time, and Cross seemed more in a rush than normal. They arrived at a spot where they used to have picnics and fish. When Rachel turned the corner, she was met with their dog, Chaco, running up to her with a sign that read, “Mom, will you marry dad?”. Rachel quickly turned around, saw Cross on one knee, and fell to the ground in tears.
Wedding planning in college was exactly what you’d expect, a stressful mess. They went from planning a destination wedding to wanting to elope, to finally landing on their dream venue. Their wedding had accents of Old Hollywood with a timeless black and white color scheme. They danced the night away surrounded by close friends and family before running outside and getting whisked away to their happily ever after.
A note from the couple: “We honestly couldn’t have done it without the help of our parents. Everything was perfect – and even the smallest details were executed beautifully. We couldn’t imagine a better day.”
