Wedding Bells: Reunited childhood friends Nicole and Adrian married in a sunflower-strewn August lakeside wedding

Wedding Bells: Reunited childhood friends Nicole and Adrian married in a sunflower-strewn August lakeside wedding

The way Nicole and Adrian first met might be a little unconventional for a lesbian couple. They were friends as kids while Nicole played the drums and Adrian sang in their church’s youth choir. Their families went to the same church when they were children, but eventually they both stopped attending.

After several years, they saw each other again at a different church and have been together ever since. “From that first Sunday since we reunited, I haven’t been able to take my eyes off her,” says Nicole.

As they got to know each other as adults, they quickly realized how interested they were in spending the rest of their lives together. Nicole loves country music and being on the lake fishing, or just relaxing on a boat. She had a blue truck she called “Old Blue” that Adrian found so endearing. “We would drive around and whenever we went under a bridge of some sort, she would hit the gas and the noise would echo,” says Adrian.

After five months of inside jokes and dreaming about their lives together, Nicole said yes when Adrian offered her a promise ring. “I knew very quickly she was the one,” says Nicole. There was never any resistance to marriage on either side. “We were both ready to start a new chapter in our lives together,” says Nicole.

Nicole hired a photographer to take a family photo session at a park in downtown Orlando with Adrian’s family. Adrian had previously expressed that she’d like her family to be there when Nicole popped the question. After the family photos, Nicole asked the photographer if she could take some snaps with Adrian alone. The family held up signs that said “Marry Her?” as Nicole dropped to one knee and asked Adrian to be her wife. “It was perfect!” says Adrian.

Wedding planning was stressful for both women, but the end result was a gorgeous August ceremony and reception at the lakeside venue Paradise Cove. They had the venue picked out long before they were engaged.

The most important vendors to them were the photographer and the DJ. “The photos are forever,” says Adrian. They researched many photographers, but Art Faulkner suited them best.

On August 13, Adrian walked down the aisle to join Nicole in matrimony. “What I will remember most is when I finally got to see Adrian that day,” says Nicole. “I thought arriving to the venue by speedboat and stepping off the dock into our wedding was amazing, but then there she came.” Adrian agrees, “It didn’t feel real until that moment.”

The couple, whose first date was to go fishing, incorporated it into the ceremony. Instead of a sand unity ceremony, they decided to tie a “fisherman’s knot” together. After the ceremony, Nicole’s brother wrote “Just Hooked” on Nicole’s truck.

“It is awesome looking at her while she cooks dinner and thinking to myself, ‘Wow! This is my wife!” says Nicole. “It feels great.”

CURRENT CITY OF RESIDENCE: Sorrento, Florida

ENGAGEMENT DATE: January 29, 2017

WEDDING DATE: August 13, 2017

VENUE: Paradise Cove

FLOWERS: Lee Forrest

COLORS: Cobalt and yellow

WEDDING SONG and ARTIST: “I Need You” by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill

DJ or BAND NAME: DJ “Vinny” VStylez

CATERER: John Michael Catering

CAKE BAKERY: Cakes by Design

PHOTOGRAPHER: Art Faulkner Photography

VIDEOGRAPHER: Sugar Pop Films

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