This week’s Virginia weddings love story comes from the lovely engaged couple, Molly and Tim, expecting to marry in just a few months’ time.
“What some people don’t realize is that Tim and I actually go way back! We first met around the age of 9 when he and his mom came over to our house to pick up his brother. His older brother and my older sister were the same age and were friends in high school. It’s everything you imagined it was… Two awkward 9-year-olds who still believe in cooties playing Yahtzee (which was my first time believe it or not… and Tim still to this day is embarrassed of how he played and it is still one of our favorite games today!).
“From then on we would run into each other through friends and Second Baptist Church events up until high school. We both went to Godwin and ran with the same crowd. We were great friends throughout the years.
“Well, something sparked in senior year. We started to see each other in a whole new light. We would purposely change our paths between classes, have scheduled “bathroom trips” just so we could see each other, sit out in the parking lot talking and laughing until it was empty and our parents were calling for dinner time. We went to prom together and knew that we were about to have the most amazing summer together before we went to separate colleges.”
“Our summer was filled with river trips, Myrtle trips, late-night fire pits in the neighborhood, drive-in movie theatres, pushing the curfew as much as we could. We knew we had something so special but we also knew we were about to spend 4 years apart. We made a promise that if we were both back in Richmond after we both (even had a countdown on our phones, although it took me a little longer to move home) that we would go on a date and see if the sparks were still there.
“We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. He went to Virginia Tech and I went to Coastal Carolina. We spent those years apart to live and grow and figure out who we are as young adults. Well, years later we both found our way back to Richmond in our favorite bar Pour House. He did some research to find out if I was single and living in the area. And he came up and said how about that date.”
“Sure enough we went back to good ole Pour House! We had tacos and beers and ran around Publix grocery shopping giggling like we were back in senior year of high school. It’s wild how you can spend 6 years apart but sit across from each other and feel like no time has passed. We knew from that moment we had something so pure and strong. Now we have a beautiful home, two amazing dogs, Boone and Marsh and a lifetime to go!”
“Ever since we got back together and moved into our home, we love to cook dinners and jam out to classic rock. In the very beginning, ‘Wonderful Tonight’ by Eric Clapton came on and I will never forget Tim stopped what we were doing to slow dance and he sang the song in my ear. It is a very special song to us and any time it comes on we still stop what we are doing to dance together. This will also be our first dance song!”
The Scoop
Bride: Molly, 26, Advisory Consultant, Pontoon Solutions
Groom: Tim, 26, Estimator, Harbor Dredge & Dock
Engagement date: November 26th, 2020
Wedding date: October 23rd, 2021
“Once we hit a year of officially dating I knew a proposal would be coming up. So, I would give him a hard time and pretend to snoop and hound him with questions. I did not make it easy but it was so fun! Well turns out I made myself so busy playing jokes on Tim he figured out how to sneak phone calls to my sister and my brother to ask for their blessing and take my mom out to dinner to ask for her blessing. He went to the jeweler and had the ring perfectly hidden right under my nose!”
“It was Thanksgiving 2020. We were at his family’s farm (which is where we will be getting married). We spent that morning with his family running around the farm with the dogs having a blast and my mind was completely occupied with the fun family time and the holidays. We were wrapping things up with his family and heading to an Airbnb up in the mountains in Afton, VA to go meet my family. Well, we are driving along enjoying the scenic views with the boys’ heads hanging out the windows. Life was good! We are about one minute away and Tim decided it’s time to roll up the windows. Turns out Boone was loving the fresh mountain air so much he wasn’t ready to bring his head in like we thought he did. We heard a loud squeal and choking noise and Boone is hanging from the window with his head stuck. I am screaming at Tim to roll down the window. He is an absolutely frantic mess and accidentally rolled his window down and not Boone’s! Please keep in mind these dogs are like our children. We finally got Boone out of the window and I’m in the back taking care of him and settling Marsh down. By now we have completely missed the house which is a blessing in disguise since I missed my sister hiding on the side of the road with her camera after setting up the proposal spot.”
“We get to the house and get everyone settled and relaxed after the excitement in the car. My brother and brother-in-law got us some beers, Mom got the dogs settled and my sister was on a nature walk. Looking back that was extremely odd but we were so ready to enjoy ourselves, I didn’t think anything of it. Mom told us to go take a walk to meet up with my sister and see the land that came with the Airbnb. So, we started walking and that is when it all hit me. I screamed and looked up at him and shouted ‘Wait!’ And started hitting all of his pockets and I felt the box in his back pocket and immediately started crying. We walked up to the beautiful overview of the land where there were candles and sunflowers. He got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife and I screamed ‘yes!’ I heard my family hollering from the balcony watching. November 26th, 2020 was the day all of our dreams came true! We cannot wait to be married and are so incredibly blessed to be living this life together.”
Molly and Tim opted for a stylized engagement shoot. “We love to be outdoors and we wanted to capture a special place for us so we wanted to do a fun relaxed shoot out at Tim’s family river home.”
“I think what was so amazing and special was that our photographer, Kylie Hinson, really knew how to make us comfortable and to be ourselves in front of the camera. We don’t normally get our photos taken so she just started asking us to tell us our story again and she captured us in our true emotions. It was truly special to see after!”
Molly adds these thoughts for other couples contemplating and planning their special days. “Take a step back and breathe! This is you and your fiancé’s special day! Do what you want to do and not what you see on social media. Just remember what matters at the end of the day is the love you have for one another and everything else will fall into place!”
Engagement Shoot Vendors:
Ring: Susan McLauchlan Jewelers
Engagement Shoot Photographer: Kylie Hinson Photography,
Molly’s Attire: Earrings, White Dress, Overalls, white onesie – Free People
