Wedding Rehearsal

Wedding Day!!!

Spring

Our Wedding

John Kelly &amp; Edie unofficially met while playing a game of Ultimate Frisbee at Trinity's ARM Mission Trip. While Edie was hyper-focused on organizing a game to play with her friends, the group realized that they didn't have enough people and needed two extra players. Harrison (who was Edie's friend's boyfriend at the time) figured he could persuade his younger brother to play. So, along comes John Kelly and his best friend William to happily join in on the fun. Too fixated on impressing her middle school boyfriend with showing off her cool frisbee skills, however, Edie did not pay much attention to John Kelly's presence. In fact, she didn't even remember that this was how they met in the first place. John Kelly &amp; Edie then officially met in the Summer of 2017 at Homewood High School's Drum Camp when they were both placed on the Bass Line. As she was a sophomore while he was a freshman, Edie was one of John Kelly's section leaders. At this time, their conversations mainly involved Edie reminding John Kelly to hit his mallets in the middle of the drum head and to play his parts louder. John Kelly always responded by respectfully nodding his head. A year later, Edie and John Kelly became friends. Recognizing that John Kelly (now, a sophomore) was someone who barely talked to people he didn't know, Edie realized that she needed to step it up if they were going to avoid more awkward interactions. She occasionally gave him rides home from practice and with frequent prying, finally got a decent conversation out of him! The two became friends quickly and began to hang out (in groups) going to Krispy Kreme after Football games, occasionally eating at iHop, playing board games, and watching Star Wars. Their friendship grew in slow, gradual steps as they got to know each other better. By the start of 2020, they even started to spend time with each other outside of band-related activities. It was March 13th, 2020 that made the difference. On March 13th, the world shut down with the growing impact of the COVID-19 virus. Setting aside the more real hardships that this caused, Edie and John Kelly had their own struggles. On this day, Edie knew that her high school life was over. She was a senior who was about to be deprived of the last quarter of her school year, her prom, and her graduation. But most importantly, she found out that she would never get a last chance to compete in a track race for Homewood High School. Edie knew she wanted to run in college, but because of some extenuating circumstances, she was relying on the incoming track season to run times that would be good enough for a D1 school. She was heartbroken and felt hopeless. At school that day, she just didn't want to be alone. And so Edie reached out to the person she knew could be there for her as a supportive and caring friend. On this day, Edie and John Kelly went to throw the frisbee at Homewood Park together, ranting about life's new circumstances and processing the new world in a stress-free environment. From here on out, John Kelly and Edie became "Quarantine Buddies" and proceeded to spend time together almost every day that they were out of school before the summer began. They made a variety of lip sync YouTube videos together, they watched movies over the phone, and they just enjoyed being together whether it was doing something active or hanging out in enos at the park. As it always happens on TV, their friendship found itself hitting the gray area of "feelings" during this time. Still, they both assumed the other didn't like them and proceeded to not do anything about these newfound emotions. And so they stayed close friends—for now. Life went on as usual. Edie went away to Montreat for the summer in attempt to forget and drown out her feelings. There, she met a cute stranger with dirty blonde hair who she went on hikes with. John Kelly stayed in Birmingham to work at Taco Casa, where he met another nice brunette to hang out with over the summer. As Edie returned from Montreat, the two rekindled their friendship briefly before Edie was to go away (yet again) to North Carolina where she would attend Davidson College. While at Davidson, Edie and John Kelly did not stay in touch often. John Kelly wrote her a letter in the mail, since they had decided to be pen pals. Edie did not write back—not because she didn't want to, but because she forgot to between the many busy homework assignments demanded of Freshman year. Eventually realizing this, Edie decided to catch up with John Kelly over the phone. A phone call which involved Edie asking John Kelly if he "believes in love at first sight." Not thinking about what they once had, Edie was so excited to talk with her best friend about the guy she had a major crush on while at Davidson. John Kelly did not like this phone call, but he endured it and listened as any good friend would. Needless to say, Edie's "love at first sight" vision did not prove accurate. Coming home for Thanksgiving and Winter Break, Edie was excited to see John Kelly again in person. During this time, they enjoyed going for walks, shopping for Christmas presents, and watching movies—this time, in person! Through a series of text conversations, Edie and John Kelly finally admitted their age-old feelings for each other and realized that their friendship had gone on long enough, much like this written account of their story! Soon enough (on December 30, 2020), Edie and John Kelly decided to try out what it would be like to go from friends to boyfriend and girlfriend. And they have been together ever since! Edie did get to go to a prom, attending John Kelly's as his date. When they started dating, Edie and John Kelly also became comfortable sitting on the same couch together (since in both COVID and pre-dating times they watched all of their movies either over the phone or sitting across the room from each other). They spent the first year of their relationship dating from a distance while Edie was at Davidson and John Kelly was finishing High School and starting college at Samford University. This consisted of countless FaceTime calls, and semi-frequent in-person visits in Birmingham, at Davidson, in Greenville, SC, and in Athens, Georgia. In 2022, Edie transferred to Samford to complete undergrad with a smooth transition from a Bachelor's Degree in English to begin Samford's Master's of Secondary Education program. Currently, Edie and John Kelly are both in the thick of their grad school programs. Edie is still pursuing her MSE in English/Language Arts and John Kelly is pursuing a PharmD degree with Samford's McWhorter School of Pharmacy. They got engaged on June 22, 2024 and are incredibly excited to get married after building a several-year-strong foundation of friendship and love. They plan to live together in Birmingham for the years to come.

Our (Long, but Lovely) Story 

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Our Story

Here are some lovely pictures from June 22, 2024 when John Kelly proposed to Edie at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens! Sarah Smith, the maid of honor, was the photographer.

Photos

Maid of Honor & Best Man

Sarah is a rising junior at Troy University, where she is studying for a career in the medical profession. Outside of school, Sarah has enjoyed various extracurricular activities including horseback riding, baking, photography, and spending time with her friends. 

As Edie's younger sister, Sarah grew up watching Edie's relationship with John Kelly blossom. In high school, Sarah was on drumline with the two, where she was able to see the beginning of their friendship. And years later, on Sarah's birthday, Edie and John Kelly had their first official date when they went to watch one of Sarah's horseback riding lessons in Sterrett, Alabama. While sharing a birthday with her sister's relationship anniversary has been fun, Sarah is excited for Edie and John Kelly to have a new anniversary date on May 24th (so that she can regain her solo birthday celebrations on December 30th). 


Sarah Smith

William Smith (no relation to the wedding hosts) is one of John Kelly's and Edie's friends from their time in Homewood.  William enjoys spending his time supporting Auburn athletics and keeping up with his favorite Formula 1 team, Red Bull. William is currently a senior at Auburn University, pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering. William met John Kelly in the 2nd grade and bonded over both failing at the chance of winning over the girl of their dreams. Despite battling for the same 2nd grade crush, they both got over it and became close friends. Growing up, William and John Kelly played baseball together in the early years of their friendship and they both ended up on Homewood's bowling team and drumline as well. They both met Edie while on drumline, but thankfully did not experience the same 2nd grade battle for her affection this time around. William will be very happy to stand by John Kelly's side as John Kelly marries the more real girl of his dreams. 


William Smith

Siblings of the Bride & Groom

Both John Kelly and Edie are blessed to have all of their siblings in their wedding party. While having siblings can often be a source of rivalry, these are the people who have walked alongside John Kelly and Edie as they grew to become the people they are today. For Edie, Will has always been a role model who has helped her discover a love for running, music, and movies. On the Hawkins side, John Kelly cherishes every moment he gets to spend with all of his siblings—Fischer, Harrison, Anna Kate, and Ford—whether that's going on a trip to Disney World, playing board games, hanging out at the lake, or laughing at the crazy dogs who reside at the Hawkins house.

Fischer Hawkins

Harrison Hawkins

Anna Kate Hawkins

Ford Hawkins

Will Smith

Bridesmaids

In June of 2024, after the couple's engagement, Edie had the fun task of getting to ask some of her closest friends to be her bridesmaids. To ask each friend, Edie spent a lot of time thinking about what she loves most about her friends and she picked out a paperweight that she felt represented these qualities. They may just be objects on a table for some, but collecting paperweights has been an important part of Edie's life. Growing up, Edie has always loved looking through her mother's extensive collection at home, which began with her great grandmother Mammy's love of decorative items. So it was special for Edie to get to gift one of these to these ladies as they were asked to be a part of such a special day. What's so fun about weddings is that you get to bring together groups of people that may not even know each other. To Edie, this is what she loves most about her bridesmaids. Sarah and Anna Kate are family and have been able to see Edie as she grew up in Homewood and as she began her relationship with John Kelly. Evie is Edie's closest friend from the Birmingham area as they met through playing on a Birmingham-based Ultimate frisbee team. Edie became friends with both Sydney and Isabel while at Davidson College. Lila and Edie became friends and running buddies while they were in the clubs program in Montreat, North Carolina. And a few years later, Edie became friends with Sage and Caroline as they were on Montreat Summer Staff together. While Edie hasn't been around these friends much while at Samford, she finds that a simple phone call makes catching up with them just as easy as if they were always side-by-side. And that's what makes a beautiful friendship.

Evie Moellering

Lila Peters

Sydney Harris

Isabel Walter

Caroline Crump

Sage Holland

Groomsmen

Anyone who knows John Kelly can attest to the fact that it is extremely difficult to not like him. John Kelly is one of the nicest, goofiest, and most caring people to exist and he is a friend to all. So knowing this, you can also know that the friends that he has chosen to keep in his bubble are just as special. John Kelly and William Pitts became friends while on Montreat Summer Staff as camp counselors and with rooming together. They share a common music interest, which if you know John Kelly, is incredibly important. John Kelly, Sam, and Ethan—along with William Smith— all became friends throughout their time in Homewood. They spend most of their time hanging out over Playstation. But recently, they have also begun to spend time together in person too! And as the wedding party guys all learned over their trip to Gatlinburg, TN, it's really easy to get along once you find something stupid to laugh about. Without John Kelly even being there, the groomsmen bonded over their desire to become pirates. If you listen closely, this recurring joke may be brought up once (or a hundred times) at the wedding reception.

Sam Pence

Ethan Gray

William Pitts

Wedding Party

Q + A

Book by April 24, 2025. To make reservations online please use the following link:<a href="https://www.hilton.com/en/attend-my-event/bhmrmqq-94m-242f1c8e-449f-4afb-a515-7d5d2b45ded8/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.hilton.com/en/attend-my-event/bhmrmqq-94m-242f1c8e-449f-4afb-a515-7d5d2b45ded8/</a> To make reservations by phone call the 800 number above and provide the Block Code.

Valley Hotel Homewood Birmingham, Curio Collection by Hilton

Book by April 26, 2025. Please use the following link to reserve a room in our block: <a href="https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1739314157392&amp;key=GRP&amp;guestreslink2=true&amp;app=resvlink" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1739314157392&amp;key=GRP&amp;guestreslink2=true&amp;app=resvlink</a>

Courtyard Birmingham Homewood

Travel

Enjoy local shops and restaurants along 18th Street between Oxmoor Road and Rosedale Drive, and in the surrounding area.

Walk/Shop/Dine Downtown Homewood

Explore picturesque Homewood ParkHomewood Park is a beautiful space to enjoy nature in the heart of Homewood, Alabama. This park features lush green lawns, vibrant flower beds, a playground, and shaded areas perfect for relaxing.

Homewood Central Park

Though there are many access points, two official trailheads are:1. 1280 Columbiana Road, Homewood, AL 35209, USA2. Corner of Brookwood Boulevard and Brookwood Village Road, Homewood, AL 35209 (Across from Courtyard Birmingham-Homewood)

Edie & John Kelly

Edie & John Kelly

Things to Do

Walk/Shop/Dine Downtown Homewood

Homewood Central Park

Homewood Shades Creek Greenway

Railroad Park Foundation

Vulcan Park and Museum

Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Birmingham Zoo

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

Birmingham Museum of Art

The Summit Birmingham

Red Mountain Park