This Tinder Love Story Will Melt Your Heart
By Janecia Britt
Margaret and Ryan’s love story couldn’t be any more unique to Tallahassee if they tried.
“Ryan and I have the quintessential love story of our generation. … We matched on Tinder in April of 2015 while Ryan was in town visiting a friend. (At the time, he was living in Orlando and I lived in Tallahassee.)
We didn’t meet in person the weekend we matched, but we kept in touch for months afterward. We decided to meet face-to-face in September of 2015 when Ryan traveled to Tallahassee with a group of friends for the first FSU football game of the season. We met at a tailgate right outside of Doak Campbell, and from there our relationship grew quickly.
Later that month, we found ourselves back at Doak professing our love for each other during halftime of the FSU-Miami game. We traveled nearly every single weekend to see each other until he moved to Tallahassee in October of 2016. Almost a year to the day after he moved, Ryan took me back to Doak and proposed at the same spot where we said “I love you” for the first time.
Our ceremony was a traditional service at Trinity United Methodist Church followed by a reception at the University Center Club. It was a no brainer for us to pick the UCC as our reception venue. What sealed the deal was when we toured the facility and saw the view of both the football field and downtown Tallahassee from the Champions Club, which we ultimately used for our cocktail hour. You can’t find that anywhere else in town!
The next vendor we hired was our photographer, the amazing Charlotte Fristoe. Ryan and I clicked with her the first day we met, and the rest fell into place around her. Charlotte introduced us to our wedding planner, Sam Oppy with Samantha Nicole Weddings, who turned out to be one of the best decisions in the process of planning our wedding.
We rounded out our wedding dream team by hiring A Country Rose as our florist. I had such a hard time translating my vision for our flowers into words, but Jessica understood and put together a gorgeous bouquet and arrangements comprised of beautiful and meaningful flowers! Our wedding day was perfect from start to finish because of our vendors. It took away the stress and allowed us to enjoy every minute of our wedding! I have to mention — and I know I’m probably rambling on too much about our vendors now — but the day of our wedding, my bridesmaids and I met at Haute Headz Salon for hair and makeup. I loved working with Veronica, Ciara and the rest of the team as they went above and beyond to accommodate us and make our morning together special.
We then got ready at the Park Avenue Inn, which is a beautiful piece of history in Tallahassee. The staff there treated me like a queen that day. They prepared breakfast, made drinks for me and the girls that afternoon and had champagne waiting for my husband and I when we returned that evening. (Side story: The Chef also saved the day, fishing my earring out of the pipes after I dropped it down the bathroom sink!) Despite not being contract vendors, they were so special that day and deserve a mention.
The best part of our day was the ceremony itself. This, of course, is what we gathered all of our loved ones to celebrate, so to walk down that aisle as husband as wife surrounded by family and friends was the highlight! When the bridal party arrived at the UCC for our reception, we found our way out onto the football field so our photographer could take pictures.
We had a lot of fun pretending to run plays and taking in the view from the field. We had a great party afterward in the UCC ballroom, which had a terrace overlooking the field as well. The food and drinks were fantastic as was the cake made by Sandy’s Sweets. And to top it all off, we had awesome live music.
The band was put together by Ryan’s dad, who has worked in the entertainment business for decades. He even made a cameo on stage as the drummer for a song during our reception! It was such an awesome time in a place that’s meant so much to Ryan and I since the day we met!”
Photos courtesy of Charlotte Fristoe Photography
We want to see Real Weddings. Do you or someone you know have a Northwest Florida wedding we would love? Submit here.