THE LOVE STORY
“We are from small towns in the Texas Panhandle, I grew up in Stinnett, TX and Wacey grew up in Borger, Tx. The two towns are about 10 miles apart. We have known each other since we were kids, his sister is one of my best childhood friends. Our families have been close for a very long time, 22 years or something like that. We started dating seriously about two years ago, I moved from the DFW area to Amarillo 5 months into our relationship. He proposed on October 3rd, 2020. Wacey is a finance manager at a local ford dealership with woodwork for a hobby that pays him and I am the CMO for one of the biggest bison producers in the United States and they’re local to Amarillo, TX. We live a very active and busy lifestyle, we are a blended family of my three girls, Wacey’s son, him and I. Between work, basketball games and wrestling, we love to be outdoors and road trip to different places in the Rocky Mountains. We do winter sports in the winter, fish rivers, and hike in the summer!
We have actually known each other since we were kids, Wacey’s sister is one of my best childhood friends. I wanna say we’ve known each other since I was in the 4th-5th grade. We spent so much time together growing up, we traveled to AAU basketball tournaments together, we’ve gone on family vacations together and I spent many weekends at their house all through high school and even sometimes I would visit in my adult life to stay with Kala when she would visit. Wacey and I tried to date a couple times in the past but the timing was never right. We reconnected about two years ago while I was in Amarillo working on a project for Rodeo Fame. I reached out to Wacey and wanted to know if he wanted to grab dinner while I was in town and he did. The connection was unbelievable. We never stopped seeing each other from that day forward. It’s so hard to explain the magic that was happening. I have never had any connection or feeling like this in my life. I believe God has a plan for everyone and the closer I have gotten to the Lord, he led me to Wacey. I have always loved Wacey, he’s always been so sweet, a caring friend and just a true gentleman. It was our rooted friendship I think that made it so magical and the man upstairs.
The wedding was at this beautiful hidden gem of a bed and breakfast. Three Falls Cove is located near Lake Meredith in Sanford, TX. It is very close to both of our hometowns, so the venue felt rooted as well, not to mention the beautiful cabin and scenery. The day of the wedding I woke up at 5:30 AM because I could not sleep, I was just so excited to set the venue up and decorate for the wedding. The weather in the Texas panhandle is all over the place so all of my girls and I were checking weather all day to see if we needed to change it to inside the cabin from the outside. When we checked at 11AM the rain was supposed to be out by 4PM that afternoon so we decided to keep it outdoors. 4pm rolls around and it’s looking like we have a bad storm rolling in around 5:15 and would be raining all night. I remember being so sad because there wasn’t much I could do at this point because the venue was set up. So we just decided when we had a break in rain we would go and make it snappy! I made that decision because a week before the wedding Wacey sent me a quote because he is always lifting me up “Life isn’t about waiting for the storms to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” – Vivian Greene. I wasn’t overly excited that it was raining and was feeling defeated like omg, I have done all of this work for nothing when Kala, Wacey’s sister walked into the bridal suite. (Her and I are very connected, she was a huge part of my life and was very close with our family. She knew my dad very well.) I started to cry and told Kala “I just don’t know what to do, I wish my dad was here because he would make all of this okay.” About that time the clouds parted and the sun came out with a rainbow over the pond behind the gazebo we were going to get married at. I can’t even begin to tell you how incredible that moment was for Wacey’s sister and I. I knew in that moment, let’s dance baby, lets’ dance in the rain on our wedding day!! She hugged me and said okay let’s get your stuff it’s time to get married. I looked out the window and saw people running to wipe chairs off, put flowers out and make it look beautiful. I was over the moon at that point because rain or shine I’m marrying this man! I love him so much and I know he loves me! That really is the best feeling. So I grabbed my bouquet and headed to the side of the cabin to line up with the bridesmaids and meet my brother (Luke) who was walking me down in place of my dad. When we got to the side of the cabin, there was a red cardinal flying into the trees as we walked closer to the stairs for me to walk down the aisle. It continued to fly down the tree line with us until we got to the staircase to walk down and flew over to a tree above the saddled horse in honor of him. The ceremony was beautiful, Sterling, Wacey’s best friend is the one who married us and did such an amazing job. My favorite part of the wedding was after Sterling pronounced us and we walked down the aisle, we were standing there waiting to take pictures and a tree broke. It was so loud everyone at the wedding heard it. We all feel as if my dad was actually there and God played a huge part in parting the clouds. There were tornados and bad weather all around us and for the 30 mins we were married it was still and soft sprinkles of rain fell. It was as if God was cleansing our marriage and my dad blessing our future. I truly feel that in my heart.
I wrote a poem for my dad and played a sturgill simpson song for him as they walked the horse out to the hill called All Around You. The Groomsmen walked out to Just some good ole boys, The bridesmaids walked out to forever and ever, amen. I walked down to Millionaire. The song we walked out to was I choose you. Our first dance was I’m All Your’n. Blaise (Wacey’s son) was the best man, gave an awesome speech and Brooke my Maid of Honor did as well. The reception was a blast and amazing to celebrate with our closest friends & family!
I would say some tips I have, are take it all in because the moment doesn’t last forever and remember why you are a bride. The day can get overwhelming because everyone is asking you what to do because it is your day. If you need a break or a moment from the craziness to reflect on why you are doing this, take it and just remember it is your day. Do what YOU want! Ask your photographer to overshoot so that way you can capture all of the moments in a still shot. I was so thankful for my photographer who did such an outstanding job and was in the wedding! Her team of second shooters and our millions of conversations before the wedding really played such a huge part into her knowing where to be to get the right shots and her communicating that to her team while she stood by my side. My advice would be to take your photographer to the location of the wedding, give her as many details as possible and have her come to the rehearsal. It’s so important if you wanna get those magical shots.
After planning a 6 month wedding and having so much fun while doing it, I have decided I am going to start consulting, planning and coordinating weddings. I am also going to start selling products I made for my wedding on a website I am working on building right now. It will include floral arrangements, save the dates, programs, invitations, bow ties, cake stands, donut stands, websites and a few other products. I also am doing creative writing for people, like the poem I wrote for my dad but a custom story or poem for it to be unique to the bride or groom. I want to offer a variety of things to people because it really is a passion and doesn’t feel like work. If I can bring just a little bit of joy to someone’s special day, that’s all the reward I need and encourage people to believe in marriage. It’s a beautiful thing when God is involved!” – Bride Leah, interviewed by Morghan Ruggles.
VENDORS
Photographer- @kelseyelizabethphotos
Venue- @three_falls_cove_country_inn
Dress- @Providenceplacebridal
Bridesmaid Dresses- @balticborn
Hat- @american (groom)
Jewelry- @smalltowngypsy_TX
Florals- @itsmrs.williams (myself)
Bow Ties- @itsmrs.williams
Cake table- @itsmrs.williams
Cowhides- @shopdixiemountaintx
Groomsmen gifts – custom @whiskeybenthatco hats
Bridesmaids bouquets- @jameson_ropeandco
Boutonniers @jameson_ropeandco
Hair: @rileykieschnick
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