Farmhouse Wedding in Texas

How They Met

Her Side: I met Zac freshman year of college at Texas A&M while sitting next to him in an intro course for our major (seating was alphabetical). I say met because this was a blowoff 8 AM class and we never actually spoke a single word to each other! It’s only after officially meeting sophomore year in ochem lab that we realized we sat right next to each other. We quickly made lab a huge competition and Zac might think he was better at ochem than me, but often I was the one tapping my foot waiting at the door for him to finish up. Coincidentally, we had almost identical schedules that semester so we became pretty great friends. I got to know Zac through late nights studying, whataburger runs, and just listening to music in my car before class. “We had so much in common, it was almost scary. I knew he was something special; however, I wasn’t exactly available at the time so our love story didn’t officially begin until the very end of junior year! I don’t know what it was, but that special feeling grew so intense I decided I HAD to be with him (or maybe it was that new shiny Aggie ring). Anyways, after a few weeks of me not so subtly letting him know I was into him and Zac playing cool and hard to get (I still give him a hard time about that), we finally began dating! “It was such a smooth transition because he was already one of my best friends. There was no ‘getting to know you’ period like some relationships, and within 2 weeks he told me he loved me. It was certainly one of the most magical times of my life. His Side: Much like life itself, our story begins with organic chemistry, or organic chemistry lab at least. Robyn and I first met the first semester of our sophomore year at Texas A&M. As fate would have it, we were assigned to work stations right next to one another in our lab section. Cordial introductions quickly evolved into an intense competition between the two of us over who was the best. She bested me at some, but we both knew who the better organic chemist really was. Looking back, it was definitely her competitive nature that first intrigued me. For those of you who don’t know this about Robyn, she absolutely hates to lose. The real chemistry occurred outside of the classroom. Our lab was in the evening, well after we had already returned home from the rest of our classes, so we decided to start carpooling to and from lab. In the beginning, we just enjoyed the fact that we didn’t have to drive separately every week for lab. Eventually, those drives became the highlight of my week and I prolonged our time together as long as I could. This is where I, Zachary James Richards, First of His Name, began to fall in love with the ever so lovely Robyn Catherine Reed. This would typically be where most love stories end, usually with the cliché phrase, “and they lived happily ever after.” Unfortunately, life isn’t quite like the fairy tales from our childhood and one of us was actually in a relationship. I’m not going to point fingers, but let’s just say it wasn’t me. I was in a pretty tough position as you might imagine. I loved a girl, who loved another. The problem was that I enjoyed being around Robyn and definitely wanted to keep her in my life, even if it meant only as friends. So, I decided to stifle my feelings for her in the hope that she may one day reciprocate them. That day came almost a year and a half later, towards the end of junior year. I can actually remember that day fairly well. We were studying together, like most days, for a biochemistry final later that day. I noticed that something had been bothering her the whole time, but I didn’t know what. After we finished the test, she told me that she had broken up with her boyfriend. It honestly took me a bit to really grasp the meaning of this latest turn of events. Luckily, Robyn is not one to be patient when it comes to something she wants, or someone in this instance. In true Robyn Reed fashion, she made it clear to me that she wanted to be with me and that we should just get together already. This is the type of move that made me fall for her to begin with, so obviously, I fell hook, line, and sinker. We began dating shortly after and I finally had the girl that got away in my arms. I don’t know if it was because we had known each other for a couple years and had been friends before, but once we started dating everything just came so easily between us. It became very clear to me that this wasn’t your run of the mill relationship; I realized that this was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. The only question that remained was how am I going to ask Robyn the most important question of our lives

The Proposal

Her Side: After graduating and working for a year, we both decided to head back to A&M to get our Master’s in Biomedical Sciences. His mom got us the cutest gift for Christmas that year, a weekend at a bed and breakfast called 7F lodge. These two tired grad students decided to cash that gift in on the weekend of April Fool’s Day. We were so excited to have a nice weekend away to relax! After arriving at our little cottage, I immediately started getting ready for the surprise date Zac had planned for us that night. When I was finally all done up, Zac suggested we go and sit on the private patio attached to our cottage since we had a few minutes to spare before dinner reservations. When I walked out, I was in total shock! On the empty patio I had just seen not 45 minutes ago was a table with champagne. There were lit candles and red rose petals placed perfectly all over the patio — I repeat the patio had just been completely normal, and the only other person there had been inside with me getting ready!? As soon as we got outside he spun me around and got down on one knee. The tears started flowing immediately, to the point that I couldn’t even see the ring when he put it on! I believe the first thing I said was, “Is this real life?” David after dentist style. After saying yes, my two amazing sisters popped out from around the corner! They had been taking pictures the whole time! They were also responsible for setting up the patio while Zac distracted me inside; they’re honestly the best. It was the happiest day of my life and for Zac to have included my sisters is exactly why I’m marrying him. He is my favorite, my Zac Bear, the love of my life! I can’t wait for June 24, 2017! His Side: I don’t know about other guys out there, but planning a wedding proposal probably took the most effort and thought I have ever had to put into a single act. All I could think about was how many times she had imagined that moment and, more importantly, how the hell was I going to turn those dreams of hers into a reality. T The most difficult aspect of proposing was definitely the waiting though. Robyn happens to have a very good nose for bull****, or intuition as she likes to call it, so keeping it a secret from her was no small feat. The proposal day finally arrived, along with a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach like never before. Fortunately for me, I had a great deal of assistance from Robyn’s sisters, so the task before me was much less daunting. I remember when the moment finally came and I bent down on one knee. The look of joy and surprise on Robyn’s face is a memory that will never fade from my mind. I can’t wait to create more memories like that with her in the years to come.