“It’s no longer just about yourself. You make this lifelong commitment to the person that you love, and you want to make sure you uphold those vows and what you said on that specific day,” said Michael Scott, 27, about how his wedding day changed him and made him feel.
Thomas Lawson and Michael Scott met two and half years ago at the April 2013 grand re-opening of Savoy Orlando. The pair tied the knot on Jan. 6.
“We were out on the back patio when my friend and I both noticed Thomas, so I decided to buy him a drink kind of as an ice breaker,” Michael says. “So I bought the drink, took it over to him and then I walked away to the restroom. That’s when Thomas went and talked to my best friend, and it kind of started right there.”
Thomas, who had just returned from Ukraine where he was in the Peace Corps, wasn’t even sure he wanted to go out that night. But both believe fate had something to do with their meeting.
“It was love at first sight. We knew we connected that night,” Thomas says. “We left the bar, went to a restaurant and we had dinner together. And two years later, we’re married.”
Thomas works for nonprofit City Year and Michael works in retail management.
“It was last October when I decided to propose to Michael, but it was a surprise,” Thomas says. “I felt very confidently that we both wanted to get married, and we have talked about spending our lives together. But Michael wasn’t expecting me to propose. It was Orlando’s Come Out With Pride festival and it happened to be on National Coming Out Day—Oct. 11. So I made plans and went out and bought a ring.”
Thomas proposed during the dinner and fireworks show at COWP.
The couple were one of 30 that were issued licenses at midnight at the Osceola Courthouse. They were married later that afternoon at the Hyatt Regency with more than 150 people present.
They spent the first two days of their honeymoon in a premiere suite and then drove to the Keys.
Thomas says being married feels different.
“One of the things our minister told us during our wedding ceremony, she said this is the most important vow you’ll ever take in your life, and I really feel that it is and I really feel that vow now being married to Michael,” Thomas says. “The commitment that we made to each other is very important to both of us, so it does feel different and it does feel very good.”
Wedding date: Jan. 6, 2015
Wedding venue: Hyatt Regency Orlando
First dance song: “At Last” by Etta James
Wedding theme/colors: Red, black and white
Wedding planner: John Michael Events
Unique parts of their wedding: A cake topper said “Mr. & Mr.” and a breakaway bouquet of roses they tossed had messages attached to each flower.
Something old, something new, something blue: Their friend Freddy Perez gave them tie clips that were old, with their names together—the new union formed—on the back and a blue gem on it.
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