Kimberly + Ian

How did you meet?

We met through mutual friends who often hung out in Nashville’s Germantown neighborhood, where we both lived, but we didn’t really pay much attention to each other until we started talking about work. Ian was about to open his new restaurant and bar and I was about to open my first fitness studio. We bonded over “boss challenges,” as we called them, like contractors and permitting and hiring employees. Lunches turned into being each others’ plus one for events, turned into dates to trivia nights and jazz clubs and winery visits and concerts. As busy a season as that was in both our lives, we made the time to spend together, which was our first sign this was something special.

When did you know they were the one?

When we turned the corner from the early, lighthearted days of dating to truly beginning to live as partners, Ian showed that he was willing to do whatever it took to work through our differences and support me in whatever it was that I needed within our relationship. He lead the way for us in putting in the work and was very patient with me. As we came out the other side of navigating that transition, I could see clearly how our marriage would function in good times and bad and I knew that was what I wanted with him, forever.

What are your three favourite attributes of your partner

His confidence, his drive, and his adventurous spirit.

Where did you fall in love with your dress and why?

I did a very rare thing and ordered my Made With Love’s Stevie dress before I’d even seen it in person or tried it on. I’d had pictures of it saved online, but it wasn’t available where we live in Nashville. Nothing else I tried on compared to how much I loved the shape for my body, the unique lace, and the nude underlay. I reached out to The White Magnolia in Jacksonville, FL (where my family lives) and ordered it, sight unseen. I finally got to try it on a month later and luckily it was even more amazing than I’d hoped. I wore the Stevie veil with it because I just couldn’t get enough of that gorgeous lace!

Who proposed and how?

Ian proposed! We’d already been planning our wedding and waiting for his mom (she’s a jeweler!) to finish making my ring before we did an official proposal. Even knowing it was coming sometime soon, he still managed to completely surprise me! We were taking photos for our save the dates when suddenly he was down on one knee, holding the ring that I thought wasn’t due to be ready for at least a few more weeks. He surprised me a second time by having our closest friends waiting for us at his bar for a little celebration afterward. So sly!