Why would having a wedding at Rucker Place be meaningful to you? John and I want our wedding to be timeless and classic, with a whole lot of southern charm. Both of us grew up near Birmingham, and we have fond memories of the landscape and the area. Historic Rucker Place, with its inherent tradition and charm, is the one place that encompasses all our wedding desires.

What is the most rewarding aspect of serving in the military? For John, the most rewarding aspect of serving in the military is the knowledge and the confirmation of the positive impact that the American military, and thus he, has on the world. For me, the most rewarding aspect of serving silently is knowing that, although we’ve had to make great sacrifices in our relationship, his service is keeping America safe and future generations will still be able to call it “the land of the free.”

Any significant information about you and/or your fiancé that you feel it might be important for us to know? There is a quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes that says, “Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.” For John and I, our home is right here near Birmingham, and although he is currently still stationed in Kingsland, Georgia, Birmingham is where we plan to make memories, raise our children, and spend the rest of our lives loving each other. John is a submariner in the United States Navy. He is forward deployed from Diego Garcia, and island in the Indian Ocean. Throughout his service, he’s operated in three oceans, conducting deployments and countless missions vital to national security.

Tell us your love story.

I remember a dream of an angel who loved a man

Her beauty and grace knew no end

Gazing into her eyes, I’m filled with peace and my heart knows no sorrow

Always longing to dream this dream again tomorrow

Waking each morning in pain and grief

Knowing this dream of love was a dream that could not be

For this is no dream of an angel who loved a man, but a memory of a long lost love…

A love inland.

John wrote me that poem while he was deployed in 2008. The sailors on the submarine celebrate “halfway night”—the halfway point of the deployment. Typically, the wives and girlfriends will make what we call a “halfway night box,” which is a box of goodies that the sailor gets to open on halfway night. It’s always  fun trying to figure out what to put in boxes small enough to fit in their sea bags and decorating the outside. But John and I like to do things as little differently—he also makes me a halfway night box. Late in 2008, when John had been gone for several months and I was running on the end of my strength and sanity, I opened my halfway box and found this poem, rolled up with the title “Sailor’s Dream”  on the outside, written in his neat handwriting. This poem reminded me that although he may be thousands of miles away from me, love knows no distance, as long as we are in each other’s hearts. And if anything can sum up our relationship—the deep love, the sorrow, the ache of missing the one our hearts yearned for, and the excitement to one day be in each other’s arms again—this poem is as close as it gets. Our love story has been both an adventure and a lesson in patience. We first met in high school—but it was a temporary passing. I was a Freshman and he was a Senior, and we had one class together. It seemed like there could be something there—the tender for a spark—but our paths didn’t really cross much, and he had a girlfriend at the time. There was nothing to gently blow the embers to life. If you had asked me then, I would never have believed that nearly 8 years later we would be pledging to spend the rest of our lives together. Oh, the wonders of MySpace. That’s how we reconnected, three years after he graduated. I was living here in Alabama, and he was stationed at King’s Bay Submarine Base, in Kingsland, Georgia. For two months, we did nothing but talk on the phone. I can’t tell you how many hours we spent on the phone (or how high our cell phone bills were), but that time was vital to our relationship. Not being physically together, we couldn’t use our surroundings as fodder for conversation—so we learned more about each other than I believe we would have under normal circumstances. Finally, after two months, he was able to schedule a trip home—and we saw each other for the first time in three years. That first sight of him after three years is etched in my memory—he had on a blue, striped collared shirt, khaki shorts, and a big boyish grin. My heart lurched in my chest and my lips curled in a smile that I couldn’t contain. We talked and laughed through the entire movie In the Land of Women, as we were the only people in the theater. I didn’t want the night to end. I can’t say that we were inseparable from that point on, because he had to go back to Georgia at the end of the weekend, and I had to stay in Alabama—but we were inseparable in our hearts. In the beginning, we were overwhelmed by the wanderlust, the excitement of our new relationship. Some of the most poignant memories I have are of us playing in the pouring rain one summer day, and of dancing under the moonlight that night, while he sang “It’s Your Love” softly into my ear. We spent late nights playing Uno at the park and days meandering at the zoo or walking hand-in-hand through museums, pointing out our favorite art. For two years, although I was in school and he was deployed intermittently, we trekked the eight hours back and forth between Georgia and Alabama every available weekend we had. During his deployments, I learned it is possible to grow a relationship solely through e-mail, although it’s not ideal. Submariners don’t have the luxury of phone calls or internet—so e-mail was all we had. And sometimes we didn’t even have that. After two years, I decided to finish school in St. Augustine, so I moved to Jacksonville, Florida, about thirty minutes from where he was stationed. I lived there for almost two years, and all together, he was deployed for about a year of that. When he came home in January of 2011 and began shore duty, I thought we were finally destined to be together. I had just graduated college and he was embarking upon shore duty—no deployments for three years. But the job market is tough, and I was offered a wonderful job back here in Birmingham. It was the most agonizing decision I’ve ever made. But we had done it before, and we could do it again. So I trucked it back home, and he stayed in King’s Bay—we were long-distance once more. About six months into this phase of our relationship, and right before Christmas, John whisked me away for a surprise weekend in New York City—a city I had always dreamed of visiting. We spent an amazing few days strolling the bustling city streets, basking in the twinkling Christmas lights, and getting lost in the buzz of the city. On the last morning there, I awoke to a view of the sun rising over the New York skyline and John slipping a ring on my finger. He looked into my eyes. “Meredith Amber Sayers, will you marry me?” My heart was thudding in my chest and my thoughts were whirring a thousand miles a minute, as I said “Yes!” unbelieving that the moment I had been waiting for, dreaming of, had finally arrived. Although most of our relationship has been spent apart, after four and a half years and many thousands of miles, we are meant to be—and no amount of distance can separate our hearts.

“Scheduling a daily appointment with yourself will likely make you a more productive and well-balanced person. Use this time to do something you enjoy, whether it is reading, exercising, listening to music, going for a drive, or spending time with someone you love. You will find that you are happier and more self-aware.”

–Jacqueline Dillon DeMarco, PhD

Licensed Psychologist

500 Office Park Drive, Suite 216

Mountain Brook, AL 35223

Office Phone: (205) 718-5433

Allison Tucker  May 12, 2012

Heather Schlick May 12, 2012

Ashley Dixon 6.15.2012

Danyell Jackson August 2012

Holly Willis 2013

Lauren Paul 3.16.2013

Lindsay James 9.21.2013

Sarah Litchfield 4.27.2013

A warm thank you to our generous sponsors:

Photography: Stacy Richardson Photography

Floral designs: KG Designs, Lillie’s, Dorothy McDaniel’s Flower Market, Rachel Gaudel and Andy Boyles, Norton’s, and Bloom

Linens: Decor to Adore

Don’t forget to click on the gallery below to see the rest of the Bouquet Day snapshots.

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Happy Friday <3

“Anna and Brad’s wedding was utterly unique because they are in love with love, and the thought of marrying one another tickled them down to their tip-toes. The day was smooth sailing, with the center thought focused on the beauty of marriage versus the stress of  timing and perfection.  Anna was definitely the most expressive bride I’ve worked with, which made her especially wonderful to photograph.  Here’s a little bitty peak at a classic beauty and the man who loves her…”

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Enjoy.

“Those who know me well are very aware of my love for all things ‘techy.’ I love finding new tools that make my job easier or life that much more fun to live.

I just learned of  this new smartphone app called Appy Couple and it looks so cool! As stated in the product description from the app store… ‘Wedding websites are so last year!’

This app allows you to share everything about your wedding with your guests but it also allows them to take park in the fun by allowing them to upload photos from their phones, get directions in a snap, send you virtual toasts, and so much more… all in real time!

Then there are the designs… I don’t want to say endless, but there appears to be a ton!

Still love the traditional wedding websites though?… Fear not… by signing up and starting your smartphone app, you still get a traditional website for your guests without smartphones.

As a planner though… if I can learn faces and names of the wedding party before rehearsal and be able to update them and guests instantly of any changes on day of… whoa… that is right up this control queen’s alley!

So what are you waiting for… download the free app from the store, check out the demo, and then go to Appy Couple and request an invitation to get your very own app started!

BTW… know of any other cool apps you want to share the love about?”

Thanks Rachael!