Twain's Brewpub & Billiards

Welcome Party

Wedding Day

Private Ceremony

Three Taverns Craft Brewery

Wedding Celebration

Our Wedding

Amanda and Cris met on the dating app Hinge, like you do. While scrolling endlessly through people, Amanda came across Cris and liked a photo of him and his adorable husky, Howl. Cris saw the notification that someone liked his photo and immediately messaged Amanda. They hit it off and started making small talk.

Our story is a real modern romance

During the time when Amanda and Cris were talking on Hinge, they both found themselves at a local art party. At one point while Cris was outside talking with some friends, Amanda passed right in front of him and his heart sank into his stomach. He thought she was even more beautiful than in her photos and struggled with approaching her. "It would be really weird for me to just walk up to this girl and be like 'Hey! It's me! From Hinge!' and then awkwardly stand around with her in the hopes of getting some more one on one time like a normal date." So Cris decided against approaching her and thought he would secure a first date via Hinge. But not without convincing himself that he already blew it of course.

The Art Party

After agreeing to a date, Amanda and Cris met in front of Fetch dog park. Cris brought Howl to play with some pups while he and Amanda had drinks and talked. Before they could enter though, Cris had to fill out some paperwork for Howl and it was difficult to do while holding Howl on his leash (especially because Howl was so excited when he saw all the other dogs), so Amanda offered to take Howl's leash while Cris filled out the paperwork. That's the moment Cris knew Amanda was special, because she was so openly willing to take Howl's leash. While they were talking, Cris and Amanda both took the enneagram personality test for fun. It was a great way to get to know each other by discussing how they answered some of the questions and it was really fun. They were having such a good time that they decided to go to a second location, Argosy. At the end of the night, Cris walked Amanda to her car and wanted to close things out with a kiss, but before he could even lean in she grabbed his face and kissed him first. This had never happened to Cris before and he was so taken aback that he wanted to set a second date as soon as possible.

Our First Date

Fast forward many months later - Amanda and Cris started entertaining the idea of buying a house together. Amanda's lease was coming up and set her heart on buying a house, but Cris was a bit more apprehensive. After looking at a few houses, Cris decided he wanted to wait until he finished paying off his student loans before committing to a house purchase. However, Amanda was not discouraged and continued on her own. She fell in love with a little house on Horse Shoe Drive and decided to call it her own. This ended up being a very prescient purchase, because less than two months after she closed, COVID social distancing measures were put into place and it gave Amanda and Cris a place to live and work while limiting their exposure during the uncertain early stages of the pandemic.

Buying the house on Horse Shoe Drive

After Amanda and Cris settled into the house they began fostering dogs. They started with Trooper, who got adopted by Amanda's sister Caitlin. Eventually though, Amanda wanted to fulfill her dream of owning her own dog. It seemed like she applied to adopt every dog in the city of Atlanta, but they kept getting adopted before she got a chance to meet them. However, Cris found a husky breeder in South Carolina who was having trouble selling dogs from older litters because of the pandemic, so they went to meet them. Amanda immediately fell in love with one of the dogs that was 7 months old. He was happy to greet us with the other dogs, but then went off by himself to chew on something in the yard. This was the sign to Amanda that they needed to bring him home. And so they did and they named him "Fenrir." And thus, their pack with Howl and Fen was complete.

Adding Fen to the pack

Before the pandemic, Cris acquired a ring sizer and tricked Amanda into wearing it. Not long after, Cris placed an order for an engagement ring the same day he told Amanda that he loved her for the first time. Amanda and Cris had a planned trip to Italy, and so Cris planned to take Amanda to Settefrati&nbsp;where her family came from and ask her to marry him there. But then the pandemic started and they were forced to cancel their trip. To complicate matters more, Cris had moved into the house with Amanda and needed to hide the engagement ring so she wouldn't find it while he came up with a new plan. So he hid it in a place he knew she wouldn't look: in his private file bin in between some old tax returns and health coverage documents.

Canceled engagement plans in Italy

As soon as it became possible for Americans to travel to Europe, Amanda and Cris bought tickets to Nice, France. They planned a relaxing vacation in the French Riviera spanning from Nice, to Monaco, to Marseille. Cris was so excited to finally take Amanda on her first trip to Europe so she could see why he loved traveling so much. But he was even more excited to finally ask her to marry him after hiding the ring away for a year and a half. While Cris was researching where to pop the question, he came across a beautiful medieval town on the top of a mountain overlooking the Mediterranean sea called Èze. They had a beautiful exotic garden with plants from all over the world with a gorgeous view and Cris knew this is where he would ask Amanda to spend the rest of her life with him. When it came time for them to pack, Cris hid the ring in one of his boots at the bottom of his suitcase. Once they got to the airport, the attendant checking them in stated that Cris's bag would not fit in the overhead bins even though he had traveled with it on the same airline multiple times. Without much protest, Cris agreed to have the bag checked in, but he needed to get the ring out of the bag without Amanda seeing. While she was standing over him, he swiftly and chaotically moved things around in the bag and used his best sleight of hand skills to extract the ring from the boot and into his pocket without her seeing. At this point, he was certain she saw - yet somehow she hadn't. A few days into the trip while Cris was not in their room, Amanda was looking through Cris's bag to find the last part of the sandwich she had purchased earlier in the town of Tende in the alps. The ring was also in the bag, and when this happened Cris was certain that if she hadn't seen the ring in the airport, she had definitely seen it then. Yet again luck was on his side, and somehow she hadn't seen the ring. Finally the day to go to Èze came. Cris had reserved a table for them at the Château Eza for lunch, which has a wonderful tasting menu and unbeatable views of the mountains and the Mediterranean. Cris had planned to first go to the exotic garden to ask Amanda to marry him, then they would go to their celebratory lunch. However, they weren't able to find their bus stop in Monaco because it's a confusing layered maze. As a result, they had to take a longer route and had to make their lunch reservation first. This shake up of plans wasn't all bad, but it did come with a downside. More tourists would be in the exotic garden, so it would be more difficult for Cris to find that perfect spot to ask the question. Additionally, the sun on the Mediterranean side of the garden would be higher, so it would be very hot. They walked through the whole garden while Cris kept hoping a spot would speak to him. Eventually they came across a sign that pointed to a place of contemplation. Luckily there was a spot to sit next to a small waterfall, surrounded by plants that shaded the area and overlooked the sea. No one was around. It was perfect. Finally, after a year and a half of waiting with anticipation, Cris was able to get down on one knee and ask Amanda to marry him. And thankfully, she said yes.

The Engagement in Èze

Our Story

Photos

Caitlin Smith

Mae Copeland

Kimberly Ray

Kayte Griffin

Tessa Donlon

Matthew Donlon

John Griffin

Brian Tran

Nick Shortland

Jayke Watson

Wedding Party

Q + A

Our host hotel is centrally located in downtown Decatur, just one mile from our reception venue. Please book early as the room block closes February 18th, 2022

Hampton Inn & Suites Atlanta Decatur/Emory

Located right next door to our host hotel & just over a mile from our reception venue.

Courtyard by Marriott Atlanta Decatur Downtown/Emory

Located just two miles from our reception venue.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Atlanta-Emory University Area

Transportation

Uber & Lyft are readily available in Decatur. We recommend utilizing these services to travel to and from the reception venue.    There will also be plenty of parking available at the reception venue for those who prefer to drive.

Travel

There are a variety of shops and food stalls.  

Ponce City Market

Fernbank Museum

Brick Store Pub

Victory Sandwich Bar

Comet Pub And Lanes

Inner Voice Brewing

Things to Do

Registry

Out of courtesy to all those in attendance, the bride and groom are respectfully asking that all guests be vaccinated against COVID-19 and/or have a negative COVID test result within 48 hours of the event. If you have symptoms and/or test positive for COVID, please be courteous and refrain from attending. We will be following all recommended COVID safety protocols at the venue in order to keep everyone safe. There will be extra masks and hand sanitizer stations. Thank you for respecting the bride and groom's wishes.

Amanda & Cris

Amanda & Cris

COVID Protocols