Chelsea and Bryan’s Tampa engagement at Davis Islands Garden Club during sunrise was the perfect way to kick off their engagement year! My duo will be tying the knot waterside at the Rusty Pelican come April of next year.
Florida State University is where Chelsea and Bryan’s story began. During a tailgating party at Indian Village, Chelsea and her friend walked by Bryan and his group who were grilling up burgers and playing flip cup. Inviting the girls to join in, Chelsea was Bryan’s opposing flip-cupper. After talking a little bit of smack and having an absolute blast as opposing teams, Chelsea and Bryan exchanged numbers to meet up again the next time they were both in town. Looking back on their silly personalities, Chelsea recalled that Bryan “saved my number as ‘tailgate girl’ and I saved his as ‘flip cup kid.’ The next time a tailgate rolled around I got a text from ‘flip cup kid’ saying “Hey, tailgate girl, come tailgate today.” That began our tailgate love story, the importance of FSU football, friendship, which then turned into a relationship.”
It is incredible to think, but truly, their personalities shined through to one another from the moment they met. The ability to just love life and have fun whether just together or in a big group is what each loves about one another. As my sweethearts explain it, “we just have so much fun together. We laugh a lot, play around a lot, and just enjoy spending time together. We are each other’s best friend.”True to how they met, Bryan planned his proposal to Chelsea to incorporate a little tailgating and flip cup. After spending the weekend with Bryan’s family in Saint Augustine, the two headed to Tallahassee for the Florida vs Florida State rivalry game. Little did Chelsea know what Bryan’s parents had helped load up in the car – all of the engagement necessities that should would soon see!
Meeting up with Chelsea’s family up in Tally for the game, Chelsea had absolutely no clue that Bryan had asked her parent’s for their permission a month prior to marry her. That’s right, both of their parents were in on the secret and knew all about the engagement proposal soon to come! The day began with watching football on TV at a local bar and after heading over to set up their tailgating spot with Bryan’s best friend John. Opposing opponents again, Chelsea was told that she had to play against Bryan – house rules – and as the game began, Chelsea’s team quickly took the lead. Little did she know that yet again everyone was in on the secret and Bryan’s team was losing on purpose (side note – I mean how do we know Chelsea just isn’t the better flip cupper… hehe).
Well as the game wound down, the last cup to be flipped had writing on it. Looking down at the cup, the words “Marry Me” were written in sharpie. Not even realizing Bryan had come to her side of the table, he knelt down on one knee with a box in his hand and proposed. As Chelsea reminisces, “I couldn’t control my tears of joy knowing that the man I loved the most in the world wanted me to spend the rest of my life with him and that our dearest family and friends were there to be a part of this special moment.” What made the moment even more perfect was that they were in the same place they had originally met, playing the same game that made each other fall in love within one another’s fun personalities, and to top it off… Florida State won that night!
As the two plan their wedding day, they keep one key piece of advice they received in mind, which is to “cherish every moment in planning and don’t let it be stressful. Plan together, compromise, enjoy the experiences leading up to the wedding. Make sure that everything you incorporate in your wedding represents your relationship and love for each other.
Venue: Davis Islands Garden Club
