Katie and Shannon - OUR STORY
The “Save The Dates” have been sent out…
The wedding invitations have been sent out…
The website is LIVE…
We have a venue…
We have a wedding planner…
We have a floral designer…
We have a caterer…
I have a DRESS!
We are six months away from the wedding. It is pretty crazy how FAST time is flying, but slowly but surely it is all coming together. And I cannot believe that I am opening up about it all and opening up about US. I am so damn superstitious, but my energy, happiness, and love for all that is happening needs to be shared. Plus, I want to talk about my journey with wedding planning, how we aren’t going the traditional route, wedding budgeting, financial planning, our vision, the details, ALL THE THINGS, because why not?!?! It’s a NEW year and I am feeling all the feels with some really good fresh energy!
I love telling this story to everyone and anyone, especially when Shannon is with me and he chimes in at certain points. I wish I could do a video on it, because writing it out is a little hard, so I will try to keep it focused and not veer off, but here it is, the day we met, and then we can go into other things leading up to the wedding!
OUR STORY
But in this post, let’s start from the beginning, 5 ½ years ago when I met Shannon. I moved to Charleston in April of 2017 with Lucy in my Jeep and knowing ONE person. I literally threw a dart on a dartboard and said let’s do this. I had my apartment set up, I was busy with work, I had no idea what to expect down South. I just knew that the weather was warm and sunny, the ocean was only a few miles away, there was a lot to do, and I was still close to home, so it seemed like a good idea. I went all in. I met some amazing friends in the complex at the pool parties every weekend, who I am still friends with til this day and are coming to the wedding. I put myself on the dating apps. I was having fun and just living life.
On May 6, 2017, the day of the Kentucky Derby, I was ready to go out and celebrate and it was a beautiful day, but most of my friends were hungover from Cinco de Mayo, except for John Rife (who was the only person I knew when I moved down here), who said he’d go with me. So we met at Tavern & Table with some of his friends and had ourselves a time.
At one point, I was looking around and kind of got myself into a funk. Everyone was with someone or married…My few dates over the past few weeks had been horrible…I said I’m done. I deleted the dating apps in total frustration and realized I was going to be single again for a while. ARGH!
I was talking to one of John’s female friends by the stairs on the outside deck of Tavern & Table and I saw this guy looking over at me. He was sitting with a group of ALL women. He had these glasses on and I think a brown shirt and well our eyes kept connecting. I then looked over and realized that he and his girlfriends were leaving. I said to the women next to me…SHIT…he’s leaving. She looked at me and said “Well why don’t you go after him?” and my response was “I don’t chase men, I’m an independent strong woman and they should come to me!” HAHAHAHA! He walked past me…We made eye contact and he walked up the stairs…and it was in that split second I had the chance to make a decision and I went for it. I ran up those stairs in my cowgirl boots, tapped him on the shoulder, and when he turned around with this big smile and eyes wide, I knew he was the one. It was the craziest feeling EVER!
Shannon thought that I was going to yell at him, because he was staring at me so much, but it was the exact opposite. We talked, we exchanged numbers, and he said that he was going to have dinner with his friends and that if I was still around, he’d like to have a drink with me when he was done. So I waited with John and while he was eating dinner he was sending me some pretty cute text messages (I saved them obviously) during his meal, and then he came outside and well the rest is history!
The next day I picked Shannon up and we took Lucy to Sullivan’s Island for a beach walk. He took me to Hall’s ChopHouse for his 40th birthday. I ended up meeting almost all of his friends the following weekend. It was a whirlwind, but it all felt right and I knew that this was something special.
So that’s how we met…That is our story…And here we are almost six years later planning a wedding together! I have so much I want to talk about and share about our relationship over the years, but this is where we have to start and then I’ll dive a little deeper as the day approaches. It’s going to be a fun and wild ride and I hope you will follow along!
xoxo
