Engagement Date
September 16, 2016
Wedding Date
March 18, 2017
Ceremony Location
St. Mary's Catholic Church, Mobile, AL
Reception Location
Sisters of Mercy building (St. Mary's), Mobile, AL
How They Met
The funny story is not how we met the first time, it's how we met for the second time a year later. My email sent Matt some spam mail, so he responded to let me know I should probably change my password since my email had been hacked. He ended the email with, “By the way, how have you been?” Since that email, we have not gone one day without talking to each other. Timing is everything!
How He Proposed
Matt has always been the more impromptu type person, so I should have known…he suggested one night that we should go over to my parents to watch the second half of a football game (Hail State). Of course I agreed, because I am very close to my parents, which means I didn't dress up or put any makeup on before leaving. So after he and my dad finished watching the game inside and my mom and I finished catching up on the back porch (we were actually already doing a little pre-wedding planning!); we all sat in the living room because my dad said he wanted to tell me something: “Matt asked for your hand in marriage!” My immediate response was, “Well, what did you say Dad??” He responded, “He passed the test, now you have to pass the test.” So my dad asked me, “Rachel, will you be 100 percent committed?” And I jumped in very quickly with, “YES, OF COURSE!!” He said, “No, no, you didn't let me finish…Will you be 100 percent committed, 100 percent of the time?” I smiled, looked at Matt, and said, “Yes, yes I will.” After five minutes of small talk and a little joking in between, Matt says, “Well, I guess we should speed this up.” I look to him and say, “Should we call your parents and ask their permission?” In my head, I'm fearing what his mom may do. She is a retired border patrol officer. So I am picturing her placing her badge and gun on the table and asking me all sorts of questions. Matt responds, “No, no, we need to speed things up.” I looked puzzled, and the next thing you know, he is pulling a ring box from behind the pillow and taking my hand, leading me in front of the fireplace where he got down on one knee and said, “Rachel Hartley, will you marry me?” I smiled and said, “YES!! Of course!! I love you!!” Â
Vendors
Photographer Brad Puckett, BP Photography
Bakery Pollman's
Florist Cleveland the Florist
Caterer Naman's Catering
Wedding Planner Myself, my mother (Laurie Hartley) and Ginny Simmons
Congratulations Rachel and Matt! Want to share your engagement with us? Click here to submit your story.