We Heart Photography Blog | Fine Art Wedding Photography of Jacob Willis + Christin Willis

Okay, okay, okay! I get it! You’re all mad at me for missing last week’s little love story. I’ll make it up to you. I promise. How about a giveaway on next week’s post? :)

Clearly a lot happened in the weeks after my brother’s wedding where I proved my true commitment to convincing my parents to let me get married sooner than planned. If you missed that story, go read it (here) and then come back.

My parents decided to stay for a few weeks in San Diego after the wedding so I knew I would have plenty of time to execute the next phase of my plan. A couple of days after the wedding, I was at work and my parents came by to visit. I was working as a leasing consultant at the apartment complex where I lived in Point Loma. It was only 4pm and I didn’t get off for another hour, but it was slow. It was a beautiful July day so I opened the door of the office, turned the phone ringer on loud, and we sat at a table in the courtyard of the complex. I will never, ever forget what happened next.

We sat for a while chatting about my job and how boring that day had been. They asked me if I was liking my apartment and if I was ready for school to be back in session.

School. The perfect segue.

“Yeah, I’m ready to get back to classes, but mostly just because I want to get it over with!”

They were confused. “But you love school…”

“I do! Well I did. I just feel like I’m at a completely different point in my life than everyone else. I know what I want to do for a career. I know who I want to be with. I think I can even graduate early and save some money!”

They weren’t dumb. They knew that I had ulterior motives for wanting to graduate early. It wasn’t about money. It was about getting married. They didn’t say it, though. Instead, they assured me that I didn’t need to worry about money and that they would help me as much as I needed, whenever I needed it. They said that I should enjoy my time in college because I would never have the experience again. They talked about how they got married when my mom was 19 and she had 5 kids by the age of 30. They warned that getting married too young could make me feel like I missed out on things. It went on and on. I listened closely, trying to have a teachable heart, but knowing throughout the conversation that my heart was set on something else. I was silent. My dad asked, “Do you feel like you need to get married? Like you can’t wait?”

I answered quietly, “No, I know I don’t need to. But I want to.”

Just then, the phone rang from inside the office. I ran inside to catch it. They hung up half way through my perfectly rehearsed, “Thank you for calling the Summit at Point Loma. This is Christin, how can I he-”. I looked at the clock. 5:02.

Defeated, I grabbed my purse, locked the office door, and walked to the car with my parents. Things weren’t looking good for operation “get married before graduating”. I had pretty much lost hope.

We got in the car in silence and drove to Chik-Fil-a. Surely even chicken salad and crackers wouldn’t make me feel better about my failed plan, but it also couldn’t hurt. As we pulled out of the drive-thru, my dad said, “So when’s your spring break?” Weird question. He’s really grasping at straws to stop this awkward silence.

“Umm… April? I don’t know. Why?”

He smiled in the rear-view mirror, “A spring wedding would be beautiful in Clovis!”

I inhaled a cracker and choked, at a loss for words. But I could tell by the look on his face and my mom’s smile. He was serious.

 

I still have no idea what happened in that 4 minutes that I went to answer the office phone, but I’m sure glad it did.

 

***For more of our Little Love Stories, click here.***

I realized that I really need to get a move-on with telling the rest of our love story because after a year of Little Love Stories, I am only like 9 months into our relationship! I left our story off in the Spring of ’09 when Jacob squealed his way into my heart. I’m going to fast forward a few months to July of that year because this is when things got REAL.

It was July 25th, 2009, my older brother’s wedding day. It was a bittersweet day because, on one hand, I was gaining the sweetest sister, Ashley (you probably remember Matt + Ashley from the Little Love Story about their Christmas present or the one about “my type“), but unfortunately Jacob had booked a wedding for that day and could not attend the wedding. The day ended up being so busy with bridesmaid duties that I barely realized Jacob wasn’t there, that is, until the reception. I wanted so badly to dance with him, show him off to our family and friends, and to just be with him. Luckily, I had my other siblings and friends from high school to keep me company and dance with me throughout the night.

The night progressed with all the usual events. I smiled all the way through the slideshow of Matt + Ashley’s childhood and relationship photos. I teared up as they danced their first dance as husband and wife to “Divine Romance” by Phil Wickham. I laughed as my little brother, Stephen, gave the funniest, sweetest best man toast of all time. I bawled my eyes out when Matt brought my mom to the dance floor and surprised her with the song they would dance to, John Denver’s “Sunshine”. But when it was time for the bouquet toss, I got serious. You see, for the past few months, the realization had set in that I was only a sophomore in college, and although it had never been spoken, there was an unsaid “rule” in my family that you graduate before you get married. The problem was, that time was 2 YEARS away. I couldn’t imagine leaving Jacob every night for another 2 years. I knew my parents were in love with Jacob and that they had no doubt he was the one for me. But, I needed a chance to show them that it was “meant to be”. And this was it. This bouquet toss would be my chance to prove to my parents that it was time. I was ready to get married.

At the first note of “Single Ladies”, I stood up. The DJ called all the single ladies to the dance floor and as all the other girls were pretending they didn’t want to go out there, I walked with strength to the center of the dance floor. My time had come. And like it always does in the movies, it happened in slow-mo… Ashley danced, holding the coveted bouquet and waving it around in the air. Girls were chattering and laughing behind me, but I kept my eye on the prize.

She threw it over her shoulder and fear instantly hit me: it was going to go right over my head. I took a split second to gather the rest of my strength, I jumped higher than I ever thought possible, and for the first time in my life, I was happy I have the body type of Bigfoot, because I had caught it.

I then acted in complete shock, as if it was “meant to be”, that it had just fallen into my arms.

Rumors spread for the next few weeks that I shoved a girl to the ground before I hopped, but I cannot confirm or deny this story. All I know is that I caught the bouquet and that I would be engaged exactly one month later, but how that happened is for a different Little Love Story.

***For more of our Little Love Stories, click here.***