Rehersal Dinner

Wedding Day

Ceremony

Reception

Our Wedding

Charissa and I met in late January of 2025 in Raleigh, NC. After church one Sunday, I was sitting in the sanctuary waiting for a friend to finish his conversation so I could catch up with him. As I sat on my phone with my head down and focused on what I was reading, I was interrupted by the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Charissa had a gleaming smile on her face that was absolutely contagious. I could see in her eyes that she was energetic and filled with joy. She was in a beautiful, flowing sundress and her eyes seemed to sparkle. Totally caught off guard and absolutely awestruck, I immediately stood up as she introduced herself and asked me about getting set up in the Young Adults group chat. She and I exchanged phone numbers and although we only spoke for less than ten minutes that day, I knew that she was someone special. I spent the rest of the day thinking about her. Over the next couple of weeks, I argued back and forth over whether or not I wanted to pursue anything with Charissa. I did not know a single thing about her and just a few months prior, I had decided to pack up my life in Raleigh and move back home to the mountains of Asheville where I grew up. I was moving in less than a month. I woke up Monday morning to a notification on my phone saying that “Charissa Solik liked a message” in the group chat. It had been months since I said anything in that group chat which meant that either she scrolled back through the thread or searched my name. When I clicked on the notification, it took me nowhere. She must have liked and then unliked the message. This made me positive that she was into me so I texted her later that day inviting her to the Bible study we had later that night. Unable to make it that night, she informed me she wanted to go sometime soon. Over the next couple of weeks, she and I texted a few times back and forth as I was just hoping that I would run into her at our Young Adults Group Bible study. Unfortunately, that never happened and she did not appear to be very into texting with me so I just took it as a sign that I wasn’t meant to get into a relationship right before moving. It was time to start fresh in a new city. Besides, I had always told myself that I would never do a long-distance relationship. Thank the Lord I was wrong. On Sunday, February 16th, just two days before I moved back to Asheville, there was a church dinner. This was my last church-wide event that I was going to make it to and I wanted to give all my friends a proper goodbye. After getting my plate of food and walking to the table with my friends, I see Charissa again. She is eating with her family at a table not far from mine. I hadn’t seen her since that day in January and I was once again awestruck. As I ate dinner and chatted with my friends, I couldn't help but keep glancing over at her, wondering if she had seen me walk in. I wanted to go up and talk to her but she didn’t seem all that into me over text and I was moving in two days. I decided to just put it in God’s hands and see what happens. My plan was simple… I would gather up all of the trash at my table, paper plates, plastic silverware, water cups, etc, and throw everything away. Charissa was sitting right next to the trash cans so she was bound to see me. I would then keep one empty water cup and walk into the adjoining room where all the drinks were sitting. If she followed me in there, I knew that I was going to start up a conversation. As I am filling up my water cup just thirty seconds later, I turn to look back and Charissa is standing right behind me with two empty water cups of her own. Absolutely elated, I struck up a conversation and we were off to the races. What started as a simple conversation, as we briefly caught up, turned into an hour and a half standing right in front of the water table. From politics, to theology, to family, to hobbies, to podcasts, to conspiracy theories, we covered it all. I was absolutely blown away. She was intelligent, articulate, thoughtful, traditional, quick-witted, and incredibly passionate about what she believed. For the past few years up to this point, I had been seriously searching for a wife. I had been on dozens of dates but just couldn’t seem to find the right girl. My dad always told me that the girl I was looking for wasn’t from this century. He was proven wrong that night. Sparks were flying as Charissa and I spent the rest of the dinner standing at the water table deeply engaged in conversation. We would pause here and there as the rest of the church tore down all the decorations and we needed to take a step to the right or the left to get out of their way. There was the occasional interruption from friends who wanted to say goodbye to me but nothing could stop us from continuing our conversation. All of my close friends were patiently waiting for me to tell Charissa goodnight so we could all go home. Finally, as we were a few of the last people in the whole building, her family came out and were ready to head home. I spoke with them for a few minutes, said goodnight, and walked to my friends. I told the boys that night that I thought I could marry Charissa. I knew she was different. When I got home later that night, we texted a couple times back and forth and I decided to shoot my shot. I told her that I felt a connection between us and asked her if she wanted to go out and grab coffee or lunch before I moved in two days. I had nothing to lose. My heart sank as Charissa politely declined and friend zoned me, saying that she wasn’t looking to get into a relationship at that time. She did agree that we connected and at least wanted to stay in touch. I took it on the chin and just reminded myself that I don’t do long-distance. The following night, I decided to go to the Monday night Bible study because Charissa had mentioned she was going to try and make it. She showed up thirty minutes late that night, but as soon as she walked through the door, I knew I couldn’t give up. I had to keep trying. As soon as it was over, I walked over to her table and started up a conversation. We talked in a group for a while but I wanted to make sure we got to talk just the two of us before I left. Once again, we shut the whole place down and spent another hour shivering in the parking lot. I just could not stop talking to her. Finally, after we were both starving and ice cold, we said our goodbye’s and parted ways. I was just hoping that she wouldn’t forget about me now that I was moving four hours away from her. Over the next month, Charissa and I started texting more consistently talking about all the things we were passionate about and had in common. After being completely fed up with texting, I finally had enough of it and asked her to facetime. Our first facetime date lasted for four hours. At the end of that call, I knew I wanted to marry her. I couldn’t explain it but I knew I could spend the rest of my life with her. For the next month, this was our routine. We would facetime once a week for three to five hours and text a few times back and forth. It wasn’t until April that I asked her out again. I wanted to come and visit so I could take her out on a proper date and meet her parents. Once again, I was turned down but this time she agreed to go out with me when I came to visit friends on Memorial Day weekend. Frustrated yet determined, I patiently waited another six weeks to take my future wife out for the first time. When that weekend finally arrived, I was oddly calm. I just knew that we would get along. Saturday morning, I picked her up and we spent the entire day together. It felt like I had known Charissa for years. I had never felt so comfortable, so quickly, around another person before. I could just be myself. After beating her in fifty-four holes of minigolf, we got some ice cream and I took her home. Later that night, I had a steak dinner with some old friends from church and told them I was going to marry her; I had finally found “the one.” We made our relationship official just a few weeks later and on November 22nd, 2025, after only five months of dating, I asked Charissa to marry me in Winston-Salem, in the same spot where we took our first pictures together.

Our Story

Photos

Rebekah Short 

Christiana Solik 

Merisa Espinoza

Molly Boothe

Mary Williams 

Paige Bullock

Caleb Boothe

Andrew Merrrill 

Josiah Gonzalez 

Levi Mercedes 

Hunter Hoyle 

Kyle Carpenter

Wedding Party

What Is Cocktail Wedding Attire?

Cocktail Dresses to Add to Your Cart ASAP

What Guys Need to Know About Dress Codes

Dress Code

Q + A

Travel

A beautiful park with a playground and paved walking trails.

E. Carroll Joyner Park

Hay rides, corn maze, farm animals, tunnel slide, and more! Admission is required.

Hill Ridge Farms

Shops, boutiques, cafes, and restaurants. European style dining.

Lafayette Village

Attend church on Sunday morning at The King's Chapel. Worship is at 10:30 am.

The King's Chapel

Things to Do

Registry

Eli & Charissa

Eli & Charissa

E&C

Wedding Day