How They Met & The Proposal

AJ and Emery married in June of 2024. They first met in London during the summer of 2022. They were both in London to study at English L’Abri, a Christian study center. AJ later proposed one year after his first visit to College Station. The special moment took place on Emery’s front porch, overlooking Thomas Park.

The Ceremony & Reception

It was most important to AJ and Emery that they have a classic church ceremony so they were married at First Presbyterian Church of Bryan. The ceremony’s readings were on Christ’s love for the Church, seen through the marriage covenant in Hosea 2 and the wedding feasts of John 2 and Revelation 19-21.

Since the couples’ guests were traveling to Texas from all around the country, AJ and Emery wanted a wedding that exuded warmth, hospitality, and homey charm. They chose sage green, champagne, and a muted blush as their color palette. “One of the things we loved about hosting our event at the Inn was the beautiful indoor/outdoor space.” The couple loved seeing their guests mingling over cocktails in the backyard. Dinner and dancing followed, with some guests enjoying the dance floor while others chatted outside under the pergola or made s’mores around the fire pit. AJ and Emery loved celebrating with all their favorite people and when the time came for the last dance and the sparkler send-off, they weren’t quite ready for the night to end.

Why The Inn

We looked at nearly every wedding venue in about 3 counties in search of a place that felt like a big, cozy house on the water with BYOB bars, enough space for our guest list to dine and dance comfortably together, and overnight rooms we could offer to friends traveling in for the celebration. As soon as we visited, it was clear The Inn at Quarry Ridge was exactly what we’d been imagining for our wedding weekend.

Advice From the Bride

(1) The season of engagement is not just about planning a wedding; it’s about preparing for marriage. We were glad that we set aside time not only to discuss wedding logistics, but also to read marriage books together and seek premarital counseling. (Books we would suggest are 101 Questions to Ask Before You Get Engaged by H. Norman Wright and The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller).

(2) Don’t plan someone else’s wedding. It can be difficult not to get caught up in the trendy photos from Instagram, Pinterest, and bridal magazines. Instead, try to take time to consider the things that make your relationship unique and make intentional decisions to reflect that in your wedding day.

(3) No matter the size of your budget, your wedding day is special because of the people who are there to celebrate with you. Our budget was a stressor, but in hindsight, it wasn’t the things we bought but the conversations with people we loved that made our wedding memorable.

Favorite Moment

Our favorite moment from the ceremony was looking out at the faces of our friends and family during the congregational hymns.

Our favorite part of the reception was the dance floor. Emery's highlight was crowd surfing, and AJ's highlight was belting 'One Day More' from the musical Les Misérables.

A bonus highlight for both of us was driving from the Inn back to College Station, making a long voice memo of all our favorite conversations and moments from the whole day so we could remember them forever.