The Grand Ivory

Wedding Day

Wedding

Reception

Our Wedding

Brian and I&nbsp;met at Texas A&M&nbsp;in the Fall of 2015 in Metallic Materials class&nbsp;(the class was about as riveting as it sounds).&nbsp;&nbsp;We&nbsp; ended up in the same study group as we&nbsp;had mutual friends in the class.&nbsp;

It wasn't until Spring of 2016 that we went out on our first date at a very romantic rooftop bar called The Corner. We had drinks and talked for hours, like we had been friends for a long time. The next day Brian accompanied me to my sorority formal. Yes, to answer your question, he was late.&nbsp;

We spent the last 2 weeks of the semester inseparable until I&nbsp;left for Mexico for an international internship. We lost touch over the summer but re connected when we returned to campus for fall semester. Brian officially asked me to be his girlfriend on December 10th, 2016 by asking me "are we doing this?"&nbsp;

We dated long distance while I finished out my last two semesters of college. We took turns driving back and forth from Dallas to College Station.&nbsp;Brian, not so reluctantly, came back to A&M&nbsp;for all major events such as tailgates, Chilifest and date parties. Upon my college graduation, Brian and I decided to both move in together and get an 8 week old golden retriever puppy. Enter the&nbsp;true love of our lives (Just kidding&nbsp;babe).&nbsp;&nbsp;

We have now lived in Fort Worth for two and a half years and are adding a second golden retriever to our family just in time for the wedding.&nbsp;

How We Met

During Fall of 2018, Laura and I started planning a trip to Ireland and I knew this would be the perfect time to propose.&nbsp;&nbsp;After receiving her parents blessing,&nbsp;I&nbsp;had the challenge of trying to plan a vacation around a&nbsp;proposal that Laura did not know about.&nbsp; She made sure to make this difficult as she dislikes any sort of structured plans while on vacation.&nbsp; Anytime I&nbsp;tried to make firm plans, to let the photographer know when and where to be, it led to bickering.&nbsp;

Eventually, the plans were set.&nbsp;&nbsp;Laura then decided it was a good idea to get a spray tan the day&nbsp;before we left that ended up turning her hands pretty orange. I&nbsp;asked how long it would last, in which I&nbsp;distinctly remember her saying&nbsp;"I&nbsp;don't know.. its&nbsp;not like anyone is going to be looking at my hands."&nbsp;&nbsp;

Flash forward 12 hours, we finally arrived in Dublin to a gorgeous sunny day. This is a rarity in Ireland, so Laura insisted that we begin checking things off&nbsp;&nbsp;my "site seeing&nbsp;list," which&nbsp;included the park where I&nbsp;planned to propose the next afternoon.&nbsp;&nbsp;I eventually&nbsp;convinced Laura to grab a beer and food at a local pub&nbsp;before our&nbsp;cocktail making class at the Jameson whiskey&nbsp;distillery.&nbsp;Of course, the next day&nbsp;was pouring rain.&nbsp; We got a late start in our day (yes, due to the whiskey cocktails),&nbsp;so I delayed the time the photographer would meet us at the park.&nbsp; We began working our way through my list, which included a stop at a hole-in-wall&nbsp;local coffee shop (Starbucks),&nbsp;the Trinity Library, and&nbsp;Grafton Street.&nbsp; We arrived at the designated location,&nbsp;St Stephens Green, a whole 2 hours before the photographer was due to arrive.&nbsp;I&nbsp;tried to waste time by claiming I wanted to take pictures of the park and enjoy the scenery, but to my luck, it started&nbsp;to rain again and Laura was ready to leave. We finally reached&nbsp;the&nbsp;gazebo where I&nbsp;planned to pop the question, and there were roughly 20 people huddled, waiting for the rain to pass.&nbsp;I&nbsp;scrambled to come up with a plan B.&nbsp; I&nbsp;walked Laura over to a secluded edge of a pond, and with our&nbsp;full rain gear and our dorky travel backpack on I asked her to marry me.&nbsp;

Laura & Brian

Laura & Brian

Wedding Party