A proposal 21 years in the making, real Martina Liana bride, Lauren tied the knot to her groom, Forrest, in a timeless, elegant wedding. Selecting a lace gown that was inspired by her grandmother’s breathtaking bridal style, Lauren looked picture-perfect as she made her way to forever. Congratulations to the newlyweds!
From the bride: Our proposal story starts 21 years ago when we were four years old. We were put on the same youth soccer team, and our parents quickly became best friends and we did as well. After that year, our families started going on vacation to the beach together every year. This continued until our senior year of high school. Our families were so close we actually considered ourselves siblings, even though both of our dads have always said we would end up together. Fast forward to middle school, where we dated for a week until I broke it off because I saw him as my “brother,” (aka he got friend-zoned!). In high school, we remained best friends and were always spending time with each other, but dated other people. FINALLY, in our senior year of college, we decided we should date, and we knew from the moment we started dating that we were supposed to be together. My husband proposed after 2 years of dating at our annual 4th of July cookout. Both of our families were there, which was normal as we had done the cookout together before, and he proposed in front of both of our families. The rest of the cookout served as somewhat of an engagement party as well.
We chose the Governors Club as our venue because we wanted a timeless, elegant, classic, and romantic wedding, and the Governors Club itself matched that description perfectly. We couldn’t have asked for a friendlier or more helpful staff to help us plan our wedding. The day of our wedding was a beautiful, clear blue skies day, and our families and friends still talk about how much fun they had celebrating that my husband and I had finally figured out what they all knew all along- that we were supposed to be together. My husband now jokes that he should write a book titled “How to Escape the Friend Zone: A Success Story.” I am so incredibly blessed to have married my best friend!
The most special memory of our wedding is saying “I do” to my best friend and then getting surprised by him dipping me during our first kiss, which we did not practice at all! We also felt so much love and genuine happiness from all of our guests that day, which was special as well. We also had many personal touches, like my grandpa made the arbor we got married in front of, I wore my mom’s ring she was given from her parents who are no longer with us, I wore my grandma’s earrings and necklace, and my husband’s brother sent in a surprise video for us to view at our reception since he was unable to attend the wedding as he is in the Army and was deployed.
Photography by Jocelyn and Ryan Photography