James and Danielle's Wedding in Nashville, Tennessee

The story of our wedding

In 2016, I moved to Nashville to pursue my master’s degree at Vanderbilt University. James previously attended Vanderbilt and played football while he was there. He would frequently come back to Nashville to visit old friends and teammates. One night I (reluctantly) went to Broadway with a few friends, and as fate would have it, James was out with his friends too. Our two friend groups ran into each other and found out we had mutual connections. Soon thereafter, we had our first official date!

Fast forward two years, we went out to dinner to celebrate our dating anniversary. To my surprise, when we showed up both of our families were at the restaurant although they live a few hours away. Towards the end of our meal, a dessert plate was presented to me and I saw, “Will You Marry Me?” written in chocolate. James got down on one knee and confessed he had the ring for months. I couldn’t stop crying! This date was also significant because it would have been my parents’ anniversary (my father died a year into our relationship).