Our story begins on the tennis courts at the start of my senior year of high school. I was hanging out with Gina, when Sammy came over and began teasing me—or maybe flirting, who knows?—and made the tragic mistake of calling me Laura! Safe to say, he earned a cold shoulder from me after that. But Sammy, being smooth as always, quickly noticed the chill in the air and draped his letterman jacket over my shoulders just as he was about to head off to play tennis.

That was just the beginning of what turned into a long, winding journey full of text messages, Facebook conversations, late-night phone calls, tennis court chats, and visits to Spanish class during my off period. His best friend, Max, also kept things interesting by occasionally getting involved when maybe he shouldn't have. Our “talking stage” continued with a Christmas Break bet (which Sammy lost), a first kiss outside the band hall, and eventually a big Valentine's Day gesture, orchestrated with the help of Laura, to ask me to be his girlfriend.

We started dating, and despite attending opposing colleges, we made it work. Between 2009 and 2014, we spent countless weekends visiting each other, braving long-distance between Austin and College Station. After a few more years in Dallas, Sammy eventually moved to Austin, and later I agreed to take the leap and move out of Texas with him. Just before we were set to move to Denver, Sammy had yet another elaborate plan in mind...

Enter Veronica and Jonar: Two weeks before we were supposed to move, Vero called me after we’d both been out at separate happy hours, feeling a bit sentimental about the big move. We talked about one last meet-up with the four of us in Fredericksburg to visit some wineries, and agreed to figure out the details over the next couple of days. But, of course, Veronica and I didn’t text again, and Sammy somehow got the details from Jonar without us suspecting anything.

We met at Augusta Vin and took some photos (nothing unusual—Jonar always had his camera), and then decided to walk through the vineyard for more shots. It was a hot August day, and Vero and I were ready to move on to the next spot. Sammy and I posed for a cute photo, and just as I was walking away to swap places with Vero and Jonar, Sammy called me back. When I turned around, he was down on one knee, ring in hand, ready to pop the question!

Jonar captured the moment beautifully, and Vero recorded the video (which includes a lot of sniffling from her as she was in total shock). Did I know it was coming? Honestly, I’d always suspected it could happen at any moment after 14 years together, but at that moment, I was truly surprised.

And here we are, 16 years later, ready to begin the next chapter of our story. The rest, as they say, is history!

K&S

Wedding Day

5:00 PM–5:30 PM

Ceremony

5:30 PM–6:30 PM

Cocktail Hour

6:30 PM–11:30 PM

Reception