05 Jan MacKenzie & Austin | e-session
Welcome Friends! 2016 is looking like it’s going to be a fabulous year for Two Hearts Weddings. We are SO thrilled to start the year off with one of our favorite e-sessions: Blushing Bride MacKenzie & Handsome Hubby-to-be Austin. The ever-so-talented Alisha Crossley Photography takes us through some of the top staples that our Magic City has to offer. So without further a-do let’s get to know our February 2016 bride and groom. . .
E n j o y 🙂
Q: We know you met at Auburn, but elaborate on that some. When and how exactly did you two meet? Were you setup on a date, met in class or at an orientation? Was it love at first sight or did you guys have to grow on each other some?
A: We met the summer of 2013. Auburn changes in the summer; it gets smaller and you start to hang out with your “summer crowd.” We had a ton of mutual friends that all at once became our Auburn summer group and we ended up hanging out all the time. I think we officially met for the first time at Moes BBQ on wine night or something like that, but our initial quality time was spent on the patio at the Fiji house with our small group of friends, just staying up late, listening to music, and hanging out. Before we knew it school started and our summer crowd stuck together, and so did we!
Q: What was your favorite thing to do in Auburn? Or tell us about a fun time or two that the two of you both think about and love remembering.
A: Well, with the start of school came the start of an unforgettable football season. We went to every single home game together and watched every away game together, with the exception of LSU (which we lost). We were convinced watching the games together was Auburn’s lucky charm, duh. Having such awesome weekends watching the Tigers play while we tailgated with friends and family made falling in love so easy. Being in the student section and storming the field after we won the Iron Bowl with the kick six is our favorite memory of our time at Auburn together.
Q: The proposal happened at the town square in Opelika, but set the scene and fill in all the details for our readers. Was there anything odd or funny that really stood out to you at the time? Were friends/family asked to join in or was it just the two of you?
A: It was Cinco de Mayo and the Tuesday during spring finals week. Austin travels for work quite a bit and I was getting ready to head out of town after finals, so we had planned for him to come down to Auburn for a quick visit before we were apart for about two weeks. It was a totally routine thing and I didn’t think anything of it. He said that with the semester winding down we should celebrate the end of my senior year and go out to eat. I got to pick anywhere I wanted so I chose a restaurant in Opelika called Cafe 123. Little did I know that Austin had a different plan. With the help of my roommates, he had the gazebo in the Opelika town square decorated with flowers and tons of pictures from the past year and half. We headed off to dinner and when we pulled up to the restaurant, he said we were early for our reservation and we could either go inside and grab a drink, or just walk around. Lucky for him, I said we could walk around since the weather was so beautiful. We walked up the street and through this little courtyard that opened up into the town square and about half way through the courtyard, I saw the gazebo and the decorations and figured out what was happening. We both immediately started freaking out (in the best way possible) and he could see in my face that I knew what was about to happen so he started walking so super fast and talking while we sped to the gazebo. He was saying the sweetest things, and when we reached the gazebo, he got down on one knee and popped the question. There was no one around, no photographer, no friends, just us. It was perfect. After the proposal, we went to dinner, but not at Cafe 123, he had made a real reservation at Ma Fia’s which is the restaurant where we had our first date. They had a bottle of champagne waiting on us. I was too excited to eat and dinner didn’t last long. Our sweet friends threw a party for us that evening to celebrate!
Q: What do the two of you like to do when you are not working?
A: We love to cook! A couple times a week we try to go shop together and come home and cook a nice big meal with a great bottle of wine and make a night of it! We both love great food, great beer and great wine, and cooking gives us a fun way to spend the evening together, relax and enjoy each others company. We also love traveling when we can, hanging out with our friends, and going to see live music.
Q: What are the two of you looking forward to most about your wedding day?
A: Austin: I am glad we are not doing a first look because I am really looking forward to the door opening and seeing MacKenzie for the first time that day, and watching her walk down the aisle.
MacKenzie: I can’t wait to see his face when the doors open and I walk down the aisle to marry him!
Anything else fun you want to share about your story?
{ MacKenzie on Austin }
Austin and I had been dating for about seven months when I left for a three month study abroad trip to Europe. We were already totally in love with each other, but a three month long trip, and knowing I would return to a long distance relationship for my senior year at Auburn, felt like a really big test for us. So there I went off to Europe, and basically had the time of my life with both old and new friends! Being so far apart and in such different time zones put our communication skills to the test and we fell into a good routine of emailing. Austin had just started working and his post grad lifestyle and would write me about his days before he went to sleep every night which gave me a great email to wake up to. I found myself waking up earlier and earlier (would literally wake up at 5:00 some morning and go back to sleep) to read them. We learned a lot about each other and through those emails our relationship grew very serious as we confessed our hopes to spend forever together. At the end of my three months away, I returned to Auburn knowing I had an amazing senior year to look forward to, with lots of visits from my best friend and future husband!!
{ Austin on MacKenzie }
When I met MacKenzie in the summer of 2013, every time we were around each other, we were in a group of friends of about 7 or so people. We were always having fun and had other people around us, so I didn’t really know what she was like when it’s just the two of us, ya know? It’s funny, we were “together” for about 2 months before we even went on our first date. And it was really funny, because we had gotten to know each other pretty well by then, but the fact that we were on a real date made her nervous. She was just sitting across the table asking me questions the whole time. Of course, 2013 was a memorable year for the Auburn football team and we kept winning in miraculous ways so I had to keep taking her as my date to the games. Those 6 or so Saturdays, full of tailgating and great football games, were the most memorable days from my college experience and she is a main reason for that. We ended up going to Atlanta for the SEC championship together and then on to Pasadena, CA together where we finally ran out of gas towards the end of the game and lost. But still, we kept dating throughout the Spring and went to date parties together and had the best time; and really, that’s the time period when we got serious and started falling in love… Happened pretty quick, huh?!? She was going to Italy for 3 months that summer and we knew that was going to be really tough. Luckily, the place she was staying was owned by Auburn and had wifi, so we got to keep in touch just about every day. It really wasn’t all that bad! Once she made it back and we picked up where we left off, the rest was history.