Tennessee Wizard of Oz themed wedding

Katie and I met through mutual friends at a game night in 2013. We were both in relationships at the time, and didn’t really talk or hang out much outside of the group. Flash forward to August 2014- we started talking more (mostly through Snapchat at first) and realized we both played softball, liked Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and had some other stuff in common. Friendship turned to more and we went on our first date on October 1, 2014 to see The Phantom of the Opera at the Orpheum. (She found out I liked musicals.) The date went great, except for the fact that we both realized we HATE phantom (Seriously, it’s creepy and weird!).

A month later we were officially a couple. In August of 2015 we took a trip to Florida and stayed with our friends who live near Destin. I had been so excited, but Katie acted so weird and distant the entire trip I was scared she was going to break up with me when we got home. Our last night there we went to dinner and I got so mad at her for being a jerk, but we still hadn’t walked on the beach at sunset which I had wanted to do all week. She said she’d go, so after dinner we went and parked and started walking and then she started babbling about how the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series in 2006 and 2011. I had no idea why she was telling me this because I don’t really care about sports and she knows that, and then she goes “I know I always said I wouldn’t get married unless the Cards won the World Series. Well, technically the have twice. And I know I’ve been acting weird and this is why” and then she pulled out the ring box. Of course my emotional self instantly started crying and goes “Are you sure? You can still take it back!”

Even though I was still in school, we started planning, and spring was too close and summer is too hot so we decided on fall. It worked out that the reception venue we wanted was available on October 1, which means we would get married exactly two years after our first date. Seemed like fate.

I have loved the Wizard of Oz since I was little (I even have ruby slippers tattooed on my foot), and I was working at Walgreens still over Christmas. I was putting out merchandise and we had gotten in some Wiz of Oz stuff, and it just clicked- I texted Katie right then and asked if we could have a semi theme. She agreed, mostly because it meant we finally had some sort of color scheme, ha! The day was a little hectic, since we decorated the reception in the morning and then I had to go to the salon and stuff, but we both were so happy with how everything turned out. We didn’t have any major hiccups and had more fun on the dance floor than most brides usually do! I’ve never been the girl that dreamed about the day of her wedding, but if I had, it would’ve looked pretty close to the day we had.