The Basics:




The BRIDE - Amy Elizabeth Hayes




Amy was born in La Jolla, California to Joe & Susan Hayes. She moved to Texas at the age of one and grew up in The Woodlands, TX, graduating from Baylor University. Amy now works as an Employee Relations Manager for Crown Castle, Inc. She loves the city of Houston and proudly calls it home.




The GROOM - Brent Jonathan Duddles




Brent was born in Traverse City, Michigan to Brian & Teresa Duddles. He grew up in Suttons Bay, MI and graduated from Eastern Michigan University then later Vanderbilt Law School and now works as a Mergers & Acquisitions Associate Attorney at Haynes and Boone LLP. Brent may have taken a little longer to end up in Texas, but he also proudly calls Houston his home.




The Story [as narrated by Brent]:




How We Met




One slow Thursday afternoon I decided to painstakingly wade through 1,500 unread emails to make sure I hadn’t missed anything important. It turned out I had an unread email from two months prior inviting me to play in a Christian young professionals kickball league (Cru, for those familiar). So I immediately, albeit apologetically, reached out to ask if they still had an open spot. They actually did, and the next game was in a mere five hours. I met one of my new teammates, Logan Hull, just beforehand for a light dinner, where we shared all sorts of details of our backgrounds. That unread email, and associated pre-kickball light dinner, would change my life forever.




The very next day Logan asked if I’d be interested in grabbing a couple beers after work. It was a Friday night and he seemed like a cool guy so I happily agreed. Completely unknown to me, Logan had been thinking I may be a good set up for his then-fiancé’s close friend and roommate, Amy. He had conveniently left out that he also invited Amy, his now-wife Kelsey, and some of their close friends, Perry, Megan and Sarah to this little Friday night rendezvous.




Being totally unprepared to meet the love of my life, I showed up to the bar in work clothes with my briefcase and met Logan thinking maybe he’d invited a couple other dudes too. Soon Amy and her friends suddenly showed up and I sure didn’t complain. Amy and I really hit it off from the start and at one point the girls decided I was cool enough to handle some jokes - they started referring to my briefcase as my “suitcase.” I’ll never think of briefcases the same way again.




Over the course of the next six-ish hours and an unknown number of fine 20th Street establishments later, it became pretty obvious that Logan had really struck gold with this set up. At one point Amy’s friend Megan actually tried to tip me off that they were setting Amy up with me, to which I responded something along the lines of “that’s cool, but for the record I definitely picked her before you said that.” Fast forward to the end of the night, I ended up asking for Amy’s number a cool 13 minutes before the bars closed. The next morning I texted her asking her on a Sunday brunch date at a’Bouzy, which happily turned out to be the our last first date ever, even if I did make mimosas out of Veuve.




Our Adventures




Over the next few months we went on countless dates ranging from 9pm Jenni’s ice cream dates to traveling across the country for multiple of our friends’ weddings. We’ve had the fortune of traveling all over Texas together and also to Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee (a few times, more on the last time below), California, Ohio, and Hawai’i. Amy is hands down the best travel companion on the face of this Earth. Her affinity for United lounge passes doesn’t hurt either.




Somewhere along the way I decided Amy was definitely the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and started saving, planning, and scheming for a proposal. Initially I had thought Hawai’i would be a great spot. Amy being Amy, she figured out that was my idea so instead I took her by surprise while along on the Hayes family vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.




The Proposal




I enlisted her whole family to keep the plans under wraps and we all drove to an overlook on the Appalachian Trail on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina right at sunset. Sean and Erin split up to find a perfect spot for a “family photo.” Erin climbed a retaining wall for the perfect angle and managed to convince Amy and I to stand out there alone to “test the lighting.” Standing there completely unaware, Amy was taken by surprise as I knelt down on one knee and asked her the most important question of both of our lives. After a moment of initial shock and awe (and side eye glance at her family for not tipping her off) she excitedly answered yes and the rest will be history.




The Wedding




We are both so excited to be married and celebrate our love with each of you in La Jolla - Amy’s birthplace and her favorite place in the world. We simply cannot wait to see each of you there and sing and dance the night away! Thank you in advance for everything.