Chris & Amie

Bride's Story

Chris and I met in Atlanta, Georgia. I was there with several girlfriends and Chris was there with his friend Jeff. We first saw each other at the Georgia Aquarium. We were both sitting on the floor at the Ocean Voyager gallery and I kept catching him glancing. Of course, I thought he was a hottie, and thought it was cute that we kept running into each other during the rest of the afternoon. I was impressed when he came over to our group and asked me if I had dinner plans the following day. He was so vulnerable and nervous, I shook my head and said no, I didn't have plans. He asked for my number. I gave him my cell phone number and hoped that I would hear from him. Chris called as promised and we talked for about an hour and we went out the next night. He took me to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and then we walked around Centennial Olympic Park. He surprised me by putting down a blanket, with a basket, a bottle of wine and flowers. We sat and talked until nearly one in the morning and have been inseparable from that point on. When deciding on a location for our wedding, we thought about Jekyll Island. It's here where we spent our first vacation together. He proposed to me on Driftwood Beach one year from our first date.

Groom's Story

My best friend, Jeff and I decided to take a three day weekend and check out the College Football Hall of Fame. We work together and were burnt out from a big project we just finished. So, we packed for the weekend hit the road. I'll never forget our conversation on the way there from Macon.

Our second day there, we went to the Georgia Aquarium on a whim. I wanted to veg at the hotel and maybe play a round of golf but Jeff insisted I check out the Ocean Voyager gallery. We had seen a similar gallery in Okinawa while working on our project so I was partly interested. I was staring at this massive whale sharks when I looked to see where Jeff had gone when my mind went blank and I saw her. She was laughing with her friends and I kept looking at her smile. About the fifth time I looked over she caught me.

Jeff came back and we started to move to other parts of the aquarium and I spotted her again. She saw me staring and gave me a smile. I didn't realize that I was talking about this girl. Finally, Jeff had had enough and told me that I needed to go over and introduce myself or he would. With my heart beating a million beats an hour and ready to jump out of my throat I managed to gain all of my courage and introduced myself and asked if she would like to have dinner the next day. She said yes, so I asked for her number and told her I would call her later that night to finalize the details.

I called and we talked for about an hour but it only seemed like a few minutes. I spent the rest of the night with Jeff trying to figure out a way to impress her without seeming creepy. I called Ruth's Chris to see if I could get a reservation. Then Jeff and I went a store and got a picnic basket and other things so if the dinner went well I could surprise her with a impromptu picnic. 

Our dinner when near flawless, minus me missing my mouth a couple of times. I picked her up at 6:00 and we headed to dinner. After dinner I asked if she would like to go for a walk. She agreed and as we walked to the Olympic park I stopped at my car, strategically parked, to get the picnic basket. She was surprised that I had more planned. The conversation flowed so easily. Jeff is going to be my best man.