On this rather hot and sticky Monday morning, just how much GORGEOUS do you think you can handle? Personally, I think you can handle a lot, which is why I’ve decided to PACK this country cowboy wedding from Katelyn James Photography with TONS of swoon-worthy pictures! The details of one EPIC ceremony, a reception filled with burlap, mason jars, and sweet tea, the boys sporting dark jeans and wool vests, the ladies in hot pink J.Crew dresses, denim jackets and cowboy boots. And the bride, who spent WEEKS putting together each and every one of the fabulous details you’re about to devour, in her beautiful gown, cowboy boots and denim jacket the day of. And her groom? Well, he and she just so happen to make the perfect pair! Don’t believe me? Read the love story below :)

Molly moved to North Carolina in June of 2009. She didn’t have a job and she didn’t know very many people yet, just the guy she was dating at the time. She began performing comedy at a local theater that also had a segment on the morning show of the local radio station for which she became an anchor/voiceover/writer for. John worked in sales at the station and would see Molly every time she came in to record/go live for a show and whatnot. You could say they were…acquaintances.

A few months went by and a full-time position opened at the radio station where John worked. Molly, who was still only working part-time jobs at the time, jumped at the opportunity. She and John quickly became friends…they were what you would call desk buddies :)

Around the same time, she and the guy she was dating, decided to call it quits. But Molly wasn’t interested in John (or so she thought) and decided that this was the time for her to focus on herself, her career, what she wanted out of life, personal and professional goals…and stuff.

Over the next few months, as she and John got to know each other better, she realized how funny he was, but (stubbornly) continued to categorize him as “just John”. The guy with the deep, Southern, radio voice who loooooves Carolina sports. Then, one day in the office about seven months later, it hit her: she liked this guy! But she wasn’t looking for a relationship…But she thought he was attractive…Ok, she thought he was hot…really hot.

She soon made it her mission to find a way to hang out outside of work. Opportunity quickly presented itself on the way into work one day when $10 lawn seats for the upcoming Toby Keith concert were announced on the radio. Being the country music lover that she is, and knowing that John was a good ol’ Southern boy, she thought (BOOM!) this was her chance! They wound up going to the Toby Keith concert together…along with eight of his other guy friends.

They had such a blast dancing to the music (that is, Molly was awkwardly dancing while John awkwardly looked on), eating Bojangles in the parking lot beforehand, and just getting to know each other, that after that night, they were pretty much inseparable.

The more Molly got to know John and the more she prayed about their relationship, the more she realized that God brought her to North Carolina for a reason – and that was to meet John.

The truth is, early on, they realized how much they loved spending time together. Now, technically, Molly was John’s first real “girlfriend”. John said that for the longest time he didn’t want to date anyone just for the sake of dating someone. He didn’t want to date someone until he knew he could marry her. And since Molly didn’t go into their relationship LOOKING for a relationship, she knew she wanted to take things slow and easy with no pressure.

By the time Halloween came around, Molly and John decided to dress up as Forrest Gump and Jenny. Adorable, they know. And when John came to pick Molly up in his SPOT ON Forrest Gump costume, he looked at her in her Jenny costume and said in his best Forrest voice, “You’re my girl.” And she said, “I’ll always be your girl.” And he said, “So, I guess your my girlfriend, huh?” And she said, “Yep.” :)

A short time later, (i.e. a week later), they were hanging out at Molly’s apartment reading through a book of “IF” questions. Her question to him read: “If you could tell someone in the room anything you haven’t told them before, what would it be?” And he said, “What if I told you I love you?”

Yeah. They’re pretty gushy people. Not that there’s anything wrong with gushy…or mushy…or lovey-dovey, for that matter ;)

Molly and John began talking a lot about marriage only a couple of months into their relationship. Because you know, when you know, you just know. But John did a VERY good job convincing her that they probably wouldn’t be getting engaged until at least December or January of 2011/2012. It was why that on the night they celebrated their first anniversary (of the Toby Keith concert) with a nice dinner, gifts, and a walk around town, Molly didn’t expect anything proposal-related to happen. The very next Tuesday, she expected it even less.

She arrived into work early just like she did every day. John had mentioned the day before that Ken from the local jeweler (one of his clients) would be coming in early as well to record some new commercials and had requested her voice. She thought it was strange, but went ahead without asking questions anyway.

John and Ken were already in the production studio that was adjacent to the live-studio when she walked in. She started doing her thing when Patti Thorp, the wife of the UNC Chapel Hill chancellor (and also good friend of Molly’s) ran into the studio interrupting her.

The next ten minutes were a blur, but eventually Ken and Patti were next to her on the microphones doing a spiel about an upcoming wedding and wanted to know if the bride had said yes. Patti turned to Molly and asked her to turn around at which point she noticed John holding a sign that said, “Go To The Courthouse With Me?” She immediately started crying as he walked into the on-air studio, got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. (The audio file of the whole proposal can be found here.) It was a total surprise to everyone including the morning show host, all the staff at the radio station, and their parents, whom John had made sure would be listening :)

{From the Bride} Our wedding day was the BEST day of our lives. The whole thing, the details, the love, the people – it was all so perfect. The two things I would say I loved the most were our first look and ceremony. Seeing John for the first time before the ceremony was the best decision. I was SO NERVOUS and seeing him SO HANDSOME and getting to just be together and pray together alone helped to ease our nerves.

But the best part of the day was our ceremony. We spent A LOT of time planning it – we wanted it to be the highlight of the day. We wanted it to be different, reflective of our personalities, fun, exciting, and totally Christ-centered. The Lord is the center of our marriage so we knew that would be the center of our ceremony.

John and I spent hours putting together an “Entrance Video” for me to walk down the aisle to. It was epic. That’s really the only way to describe it. It had audience involvement, it had audio from our proposal, it had childhood pictures, it was EPIC.

We mixed in traditional vows along with personalized letters to each other. Hearing John read his letter to me (it was both hilarious and so sweet), I was just filled with so much love and joy.

Oh, and I sang a song – but got so nervous halfway through that I decided to do an awkward dance to break my nerves. the whole church was cracking up.

We still, to this day, have people tell us it was “THE BEST wedding ceremony they’ve ever been to.” 

Goal achieved!

{Advice for Couples} Spend time with each other. Take nights away from wedding planning to go on a date. And DON’T TALK ABOUT WEDDING STUFF when you’re on your date. Don’t let planning your wedding get in the way of your relationship. Decide early on what is important to you both in every aspect of the relationship. If you don’t agree on something, and it’s not a major issue, compromise or let it go. Remember, at the end of the day, you’ll be husband and wife – and that’s the most important thing of it all. Love each other. Unconditionally. Oh, and laugh. When you can, laugh. Laughter never fails to bring two people closer together.

CONGRATULATIONS, Molly and John! We couldn’t be more excited for the two of you and cannot thank you enough for sharing your love story with all of us! We wish you so much love and luck in the years to come! And to the lovely Katelyn James, thank you, as well, for sharing their very special day (which you captured SO WELL) with us today! xoxo

P.S. Since I know you can handle this much gorgeous, I feel perfectly comfortable telling you that the lovely Molly’s hot pink cowboy boots made a very fabulous appearance in one of our inspiration boards! Check it out here and then go check out Molly’s blog! It’s pretty fabulous as well! xoxo