Lexi + Christopher

How did you meet?

In 2018, I was living in Fort Lauderdale when I was asked to come back to Upstate NY to speak at my alma mater. Because of another speaking engagement was added to my schedule last minute, I was able to stay in town for two extra nights- lucky me! That gave me time to visit my best friend of over 20 years in Saratoga Springs, NY. What was supposed to be an early evening dinner turned into two different happy hours, open-mic comedy, and finally karaoke on the strip where most of the bars are in town. With my hometown being a 45-minute drive, and a flight back to South Florida in the morning, while my best friend made a trip to the bathroom I had a minute to myself to question whether I should drink water, go back to her place, and take a nap before I hit the road, or finish my vodka red bull and stay out for the rest of the night and just hate myself the next day. As I was having this conversation with myself, a super handsome guy walked into the bar with a half-button St. Louis Cardinals jersey. I was going to finish my drink and hate myself in the morning. Before I could make the first move he walked up to me at the bar about an hour later and asked if he could buy my next drink. He was stationed at the naval base in town and was supposed to be at the base, but his command leader let him leave early so he could celebrate with his friend that weekend- lucky him! It’s wild how fate really works out in situations where moments are supposed to happen. He walked me back to my friend’s apartment later that night and we exchanged numbers.

When did you know they were the one?

After the night we met, we kept in touch every day, and when I decided to move back to NY two months later he met me and my dad at my family home to help us unpack my UHaul. It took less than two weeks of me being home before “I love you” was said. When you know, you know!

What are your three favourite attributes of your partner?

Honestly, the way he loves me. There were parts in our relationship where our work schedules have been completely opposite, and when the only time we would see each other in a day would be an hour for dinner, I would come home on my break to a bouquet of flowers (sometimes he would pick from our wildflowers) and dinner fully made so we could just sit and spend that hour completely spend together. I love how passionate he is about family, and how quickly he felt like my family was his. Finally, how much he loves to learn and explore, whether it’s figuring out how to grow an entire garden to pick vegetables from in the fall or finding a new hiking trail for us in a different area of our community, he’s so intentional about experiencing new things, it’s inspiring (and sexy lol).

Who proposed and how?

He did! We were exploring a new state park when I was visiting him (because the military does that sometimes, makes you live states away) just us two and our dog, something we do often and enjoy together. We got to the end of the trail and started our walk back to our car, and it was just us on the trail. As our dog ran ahead of us we were just walking slowly, enjoying the scenery and each other’s company, when he said how much he wanted to keep doing ‘this’ for the rest of his life. I agreed!-because I thought he meant finding hikes and trails to explore together. He stopped and was right in front of me, and said that no, not just hiking, but spending his life with me, for the rest of his life, and that’s when he got down on one knee. I absolutely blacked out. Not a real recollection of what he said after, but I did hear ‘will you marry me?’ and that’s when I didn’t say yes, I tackled him. We both were laughing with me on top of him for what felt like an hour, but it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, because our dog ran back to us, upset that our walk wasn’t going as fast as he wanted it to. He put on the ring, which his grandmother had left FOR HIM to give TO ME, and that’s when I started to cry.

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

Lily Saratoga in January of 2022! I wanted a Made With Love design, which is why I wanted to go to Lily, once I found out they had MWL gowns it was pretty much all I thought about. The consultant put six options in my dressing room, with the second one being Tilly. I like the pictures I saw online- but thought I didn’t have the body type for the style, so tried it on just to get the excitement of ACTUALLY trying on wedding gowns going. When she zipped up Tilly I audibly yelled NO! Because you can’t find THE dress after just two gowns it takes a while! I’ve seen all the tv shows I know how this goes! I brought it out to show my mom and grandma who were with me, and they were both very quiet, which is unlike them. Little did I know (because they had masks on) that they were choking back tears. I tried on more just to keep going with options, but after two more I asked to put Tilly back on. My mom asked to see what it would look like with a veil, and that was it. Tilly was “The one”!

What was the best moment for you at your wedding?

The whole weekend was perfect, but the best moment was the half hour or so once we got to our suite where we would spend the rest of the weekend, and our photographer met us there to take pictures of us celebrating the moment of just the two of us. We eloped in front of our parents and siblings with my aunt as our officiant, so it was a very intimate setting. That being said, it felt like that half hour was the first time it really was just for us to enjoy what actually happened- committing our lives to each other! Woohoo! We popped champagne, jumped on the bed, took pics in the jacuzzi of us in our suit and gown, and had our first dance as a married couple in the living room- just the two of us and the photographers capturing the moment. It was fun, emotional, and perfect.

What were your favourite details?

TILLY! My gown!! Seriously! We knew we wanted to elope, and we knew when we wanted to elope, so I actually got my gown before we even were engaged. I knew I wanted a wedding dress, a MWL wedding dress for my wedding day.

You know, my husband too. He looked super hot in his suit.

What advice would you tell other brides?

No one is as excited about your wedding day as you are- so make it the exact day YOU want it to be! Whatever it looks like, the people who love you will be there either way.

Any standout vendors?

Cedar and Sage Photography. Cedar and Sage Photography. Cedar and Sage Photography. She was AMAZING. Photography, videography AND hair & makeup. She can truly do it all. They’re based in Syracuse NY, but are an elopement group so will travel to and for you!

We got married on the summit of Whiteface Mountain. You could see Lake Placid behind us, and we stayed at the Lake Placid Lodge for the rest of our weekend. We love the mountains, and look forward to building our home in the Adirondacks, so starting our marriage on one of its mountaintops- chefs kiss.