Wedding Day

The Coffey Barn

Ceremony & Reception

Our Wedding

Once upon a time—wait, scratch that—this is not a tale as old as time. It was May 2022, and Rachel had just graduated from grad school. Fresh off her degree and a solid amount of existential pondering, she decided to “practice” dating again as part of her self-growth journey. (Apparently, one massive life change wasn’t enough?) A few weeks later, she matched with a guy on Hinge who caught her attention with his sweet smile and curly hair and beard. Jonathan, meanwhile, had been on Hinge for a while, meeting people but not quite finding the right fit.&nbsp; Rachel caught his eye with her smile and a picture of her in a box wearing a ridiculous hat. It was weird, quirky, and absolutely intriguing. They decided to meet up fairly quickly (don’t worry, Mom and Dad—it was a public place!) at Rain Thai in Chattanooga. To this day, neither of them remembers much about the date, other than Rachel nervously asking the same questions multiple times and Jonathan trying his best to reassure her while secretly thinking, “I’m absolutely crushing this.” As they spent more time together, they discovered they had a lot in common—like their love for the outdoors, their dogs, great food, and a shared zest for tomfoolery. They also quickly realized they balanced each other out. Jonathan was calm under pressure, while Rachel felt all the feelings, all the time.&nbsp; Jonathan’s cooking skills made up for Rachel’s strong disinterest in cooking (a win-win!).&nbsp; Rachel was the first to say, “I love you” after returning from a summer camp where she worked with kids who rarely heard those words. She wanted JOnathan to know just how much he meant to her.&nbsp; True to his thoughtful nature, Jonathan waited a few months to say it back, but when he did, it meant all the more to her. Fast-forward two years of dating, and they finally decided they were ready to face their fears of the future and commit to forever. They both enjoyed researching and designing the ring together—though Rachel struggled with the one thing she couldn’t control: when Jonathan was going to propose. (Spoiler alert: it drove her nuts.) In October 2024, they took a trip to Florida, with some of each of their families, which seemed like the perfect setup for a proposal—except for one minor hiccup. Hurricane Milton had just rolled through, leaving their Airbnb without power and on “emergency water usage only.” Jonathan briefly debated postponing, but thankfully, their host saved the day by moving them to a better house down the road that at least had power. One evening, Jonathan’s mom and sister “casually” announced they were heading to the beach to take golden hour photos. Ten minutes later, Jonathan strolled into the room and asked Rachel to come play with Lucy (his dog) on the beach. Rachel, who was happily playing with her niece at the time, wasn’t sold on the idea but reluctantly agreed. On the beach, Jonathan pretended to search for seashells, while Rachel enthusiastically joined in— being her usual goofy self. At one point, Jonathan pointed out a shell that Rachel thought looked eerily similar to one she’d found the day before. Confused but intrigued, she picked it up. She was so distracted that Jonathan had to say, “What’s that?” before she finally noticed the ring underneath it. Her first reaction? She froze and blurted out, “What the f***?!”. Jonathan, unfazed, charmed her with a series of shamelessly bad beach puns before asking if she’d marry him. Between all the hugs and laughter, Rachel somehow managed to say, “Mhm,” which Jonathan (correctly) interpreted as a yes. Meanwhile, his mom was recording the whole thing, his sister was snapping photos, and their families were cheering from the porch.&nbsp; It was a moment full of love, laughter, and just the right amount of chaos-perfectly fitting for them. And, as they say, the rest is history.

Our Story

Photos

Emily is Rachel's Sophomore and Junior roommate from Union and they met in the fall of 2015. Thankfully both have ended up in Chattanooga as well!

Emily Crouch

Hannah is one of Rachel’s senior year housemates at Union and they met when they both served with a mentorship group in Spring of 2015.

Hannah Johnson

Ashton is Rachel's best childhood friend and they met first day of 3rd grade and discovered they lived 4 miles apart.

Ashton Giannotti

Raychel is one of Rachel's best friends from Grad school and they met in Spring of 2020 at Richmont and ended up Interning at the same place in 2021!

Raychel Pepperman

Jaclyn is Jonathan's younger sister and her and Rachel met in Winter of 2022 and quickly bonded over challenging the status quo.

Jaclyn Dennis

Grace is Rachel's Sister-In-Law, married to Andrew and Grace and Rachel met sometime in 2011 and now live next door to each other!

Grace Alms

Courtney is Rachel's Sister-In-Law, married to Philip, and they met in the winter of 2016.

Courtney Alms

Bethany is Rachel's oldest sister and they met in November 1995 (the day Rachel was born, probably)

Bethany Alms

Anna is Rachel's second older sister and they also met the day she was born in 1995 probably.

Anna Alms

Ariana is Jonathan's youngest sister and is 12 years old.

Ariana Dennis

Taryn is Rachel's favorite niece and is 1.5 years old.

Taryn Alms

Seth is one of Jonathan's friends and they met during a production of Oklahoma for the East Brainerd Community Theater in 2015.

Seth Brock

David is one of Jonathan's friends and they met at a flower shop on one of Jonathan's delivery routes in 2015.

David Hayes

Dallas is one of Jonathan's friends and they met through Seth  in...

Dallas

David is one of Jonathan's friends from UTC and they bonded over Differential Equations in Engineering school in 2017

David Mwangi

Marshall is Jonathan's Freshman roommate from Belmont and they met in 2009.

Marshall Clifton

Jac is one of Jonathan's friends and they met when they both worked at South Tree in 2017.

Jac Villagonzalo

Cameron is Jonathan's younger brother and they met the day Cameron was born (probably).

Rachel & Jonathan

Rachel & Jonathan

Things to Do

Things to Do coming soon!