Jillian and John Mark’s Nottoway Plantation Wedding
“Where do I start? How about the day we met. I had just started my first internship as a chemical engineer at my current company and was on my second day of the job when John Mark walked in with donuts for me and my fellow intern. I should have known then what type of thoughtful person he was, but I was too busy wrapped up into looking at my just posted grades from LSU and a little upset from them, that I barely spoke to him. He later told me that he thought I was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen, but I didn’t seem very friendly at that moment haha. We quickly became very good friends along with our other intern and spent all of our days together at work. Both John Mark and myself were in not so perfect long term relationships, so the thought of being more than friends never crossed my mind. It ended up to where we both ended our relationships on our own for different reasons during our internship and John Mark asked me to go on a date. This was the first time I pictured him being more than just a friend and I wondered why I hadn’t thought about it before. We hit it off immediately, and I was quite certain that I had found one of the most perfect matches for me that God could have ever created!
The next year was like a whirlwind while we made our long distance relationship bloom, who says it can’t be done? While I was in Baton Rouge attending LSU and he was at McNeese, we made sure that we saw each other every weekend and anytime either one of us had a break. John Mark got to experience his first LSU football and baseball game and we enjoyed each other’s company hanging out in Baton Rogue. I never seemed to get tired of him or spending all of our time together, so I knew he was the one, and I knew he knew I was the one. haha. Our love grew deeper and I knew he was going to ask me one day to be his wife.
As we were preparing to go on our cruise to Mexico, John Mark sneakingly asked my mother if it was alright for him to ask me to marry him. I wish my dad was still here for him to meet, but it might actually have turned out differently if he would have had to ask my dad for my hand in marriage! Haha! 😉
While we were on the cruise deep in the Gulf of Mexico, it was the formal night and we were both dressed up to the tee. John Mark looked so handsome in his cream suit and tie and I had on a matching Gatsby style dress. During dinner I could tell John Mark was acting a little weird, especially when he excused himself to go to the bathroom, but I didn’t really think twice about it. After dinner we were walking around the boat and he asked me if I wanted to go upstairs to the top deck. I obliged, but had to keep stopping because my fancy high heel shoes to go with my formal gown were killing my feet. We sat down on the deck right below the top deck so I could rest and he kept asking if we could get up and go to the very top of the boat. I told him to wait because of my feet and then very uncharacteristically of him he got up and said “Fine! I’m going back to the room.” I sat there on that bench for a minute trying to figure out what had just happened and decided to follow him back to the room. After I painstakingly made my way back downstairs (because of these terrible shoes!) I opened the door to our cabin and there John Mark was on one knee with the most beautiful ring I had every seen! I immediately busted out into tears realizing that I had messed up his perfectly planned proposal. He had left during dinner to get the ring and had wanted to go up to the top deck underneath the stars to propose to me because he knew how much I loved stars! After hugging and crying for a moment together I realized I never had said yes and then told him that I would be happy to spend the rest of my life with him!
Is he the one? Absolutely. Does he make me happier than I ever imagined I could be? Absolutely. Am I excited to start this new chapter of marriage in my life? Absolutely.”
VENDOR LOVE:
Planner – Angela Marie Events
Venue – Nottoway Plantation
Photography – Bray Danielle Photography
Entertainment – The Kadillacs
Dress – Lazaro
Shoes – Emmy London Shoes
Jewelry – Sara Gabriel
Veil – Ines Di Santo
Boutique – Ivory Bridal Atelier
Florist – Bee’s Wedding and Event Designs
Bakery – Ambrosia
Makeup – Verde Beauty
Rentals – Timeless Rentals
Quartet – The Original Magnolia String Quartet