The long awaited day! Preston and Julie will be pledging their love and commitment in marriage along the beautiful Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach, FL.
The site will be updated periodically with further details and a registry for those who feel inclined to give presents instead of your presence. Neither is required. We’re excited to share our news with you!
Bruno Bear the Match Maker
When I (Julie) moved to Tennessee in 2016 I lived right around the street from the parks that Preston worked at. There also happened to be a dog park, so I would take Bruno there almost every day. Going there so much, I would often see Preston from a distance working on the baseball fields or riding from one park to the next. Every now and then I would hear his friend and co-worker, Dee, holler at Preston over the sound of the gator as they went across the fields, “there’s that girl, you should go talk to her.”
In April 2017, after several months of noticing each other from afar, Preston was leaving work after everyone else and Bruno and I happened to be at the dog park late afternoon this day and we had the park to ourselves. Preston gathered his courage and parked in the dog park parking lot and got out and walked to the gate. My fierce, burly protector, Bruno, happily ran over to him and jumped up on the fence greeting Preston. I think it was love at first sight for Bruno. I was a bit more cautious. Ha! Preston officially introduced himself, we made some small talk and he eventually asked if he could take me out sometime. I politely said, “I don’t agree to go out with people I don’t know.” He managed to come back with, “Well, how would you like to get to know me over a cup of coffee?” I figured that would be a public and casual enough of a meeting that I agreed and we exchanged numbers.
After about two weeks we agreed to meet up for coffee at Starbucks and then I canceled the day before. Preston thought there was no chance he’d hear from me again, but I did end up re-scheduling. We ended up sitting outside Starbucks and talking for about 2 1/2 hours. A spring rain came up and it got chilly so he grabbed a jacket from his car. I immediately felt comfortable with him and the rest is kind of history. Our second date included Bruno and we went on a hike at a near by park with a river and waterfalls and bonded over both our grandmother’s battles with cancer and our hatred for McDonald’s. In the following months our relationship quickly grew over date nights at Tito’s, lots of hikes, and mornings at the dog park and we both knew we found, or Bruno found, our perfect match.
We have since had many adventures together from waterfalls in Tennessee, and the cliffs of San Diego to the top of Mt Whitney. No matter the terrain, we will walk hand in hand with God as our guide.
Fun fact: Our first trip to the beach together was to Miramar Beach!
