Colton and I met through mutual friends at an IHOP next to Baylor University our freshman year of college. I played hard to get for the first few months, but his caring heart and charming smile won me over.
I’ve lived in Pensacola for my entire life, so I knew I wanted to get engaged there with my family watching. We went to Fort Barrancas and Colton was planning on proposing in the beautiful white hallways there. However, when we arrived, the weather was horrendous. Lightning was flashing everywhere, the rain was torrential, and tornado sirens were going off. We had to stay huddled together in the bathroom of Barrancas with another family for about three hours. Finally, the weather relented and Colton, along with the park ranger and my family, went into the fort. Colton was looking around but everything was completely dark due to the weather. Thankfully, he found a little patch of emergency lighting on a path, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him. After that, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner and champagne toast at the Grand Marlin.
We got married in Malibu, California. However, we had a wedding reception in Pensacola for all of our family and friends. The wedding reception was a bohemian backyard bash. The theme for my wedding was ethereal. The theme for the reception in Pensacola was bohemian.
My favorite aspect of the wedding was seeing my husband and celebrating with all of our family and friends.
We honeymooned in the Big Island of Hawaii. It was incredibly relaxing and a time for Colton and I to adventure together. We went on numerous hikes to waterfalls and probably gained ten pounds eating malasadas.
My advice for newlyweds is to keep God the center of your relationship and have fun together! Go on adventures and befriend other newlyweds. We have dinner weekly with another newlywed couple and it is such a blessing.
– Katie