KAYLA AND GARNETT
Wedding Party
Kayla Carr
Bride
Kayla is known for being kind hearted and thoughtful. She's the best gift-giver in the family! She doesn't settle for giving giftcards, unless that is what someone is really wanting. She prefers getting to know someone and finding a gift that that is perfect just for them. She always finds the best in people. She graduated from Carson Newman University and works as a Behavioral Therapist with children who have Autism. She loves being "aunt KK" to Emrie and Dax, but all kids truly gravitate toward her because her love for children draws them in. She is a very creative person who loves color. (Tie dye is her favorite.) She plans to have the inside of her cake reflect this part of her personality. She also has a great sense of humor.
Amy Carr
Matron of Honor
Amy is Kayla’s mom and her Matron of Honor. No one can argue that next to Garnett, Amy is the closest person to her. While working as a camp counselor in Wisconsin over the summers, Kayla missed her mom as much as she missed Garnett! Her mom is her "ride or die" and they enjoy their road trips to Asheville, the beach, or just out to shop at Tanger outlets. Amy will be standing beside Kayla on her big day because Kayla can't imagine her being anywhere else. Amy is a social worker who has worked with children in foster care, their families, as well as training/approving new foster families for over 30 years. If you’re interested in fostering/adopting, hit her up. :)
Bria Hacker
Maid of Honor
Bria is one of Kayla’s oldest friends. They’ve known each other since daycare days. Kayla and Bria attended a Christian private school and church together in their early childhood. The two of them loved writing stories together at recess. They had big imaginations! Kayla actually still has some of the stories they wrote together. Bria currently works as a manager at the Bath and Body store located at the Sevierville Tanger Outlets. She has a beautiful voice and loves theatre. She has sang at Dollywood and is currently an actress with the Tennessee Valley Players.
Katrina Gray
Bridesmaid
Katrina too is like a sister to Kayla and the two have been lifelong friends. Their parents and grandparents were/are even friends. Katrina may be one of the toughest girls you’ll meet, but like Kayla, she has a heart for children and loves being an aunt. Katrina has a strong work ethic and currently works the night shift for the USPS. Katrina is also close with Garnett's family and was intrumental in Kayla and Garnett meeting in person for the first time almost three years ago at Thanksgiving. If you’re looking to buy a Jeep, Katrina is your expert! Her Jeep is her baby and she’ll be quick to tell you what’s a “real” Jeep and what is not.
Lydia Carr
Bridesmaid
Lydia is Kayla’s closest cousin. She just graduated from high school this past May and is now a freshman at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Lydia is the brains of the family. She graduated 3rd in her class at Central High School and she plans on going to medical school to become a Dermatologist. She is also very athletic and enjoyed being on both the swim team and tennis team in high school. She and Kayla have created many memories together over the years just hanging out, going camping, shopping, or baking together.
Maylin Henson
Bridesmaid
Maylin and Kayla have been friends for many years. They grew up in church together, attended school together, and both have adoption stories. Maylin is very athletic and can be a lot of fun. She loves doing Kayla's make up and hair when they get together. She currently works as a nurse at a ophthalmology office. Her dream is attending medical school to become a doctor.
Charity Bandy
Bridesmaid
Charity is Garnett’s sister. She is musically gifted and participates on a worship team at her church in Colorado, aka, “Worship Mob.” She has also helped write and record several worship songs with this group. Charity and Garnett hold a special bond and are always there for each other, even though they live 20 hours from each other. Charity always drove him to school with her in the mornings and would always buy him lunch on the weekends because she enjoyed the quality time they spent together. Charity is upbeat, fun, loving, and one of Garnett and Kayla's biggest fans. We are grateful she is making the trip in to be a part of our special day.
Garnett Bandy (G4)
Groom
Garnett, aka: "G4", graduated from Liberty University with a degree in forensic sciences and is currently working as a laboratory technician Gainesville, GA. He is a tender and kind hearted soul, a very hard worker, a good listener, very trustworthy, steady, well balanced, and assured. Whenever he isn’t busy with work he is usually playing video games, watching anime, or watching movies and sports. His love for the Atlanta Braves is second only to his beloved Georgia Bulldogs. This makes for interesting conversation between him and his future father-in-law who of course is a diehard Vols fan.
Kaleb Melendez
Best Man
Garnett’s cousin that can hold a conversation about a random topic for hours on end and will continue to bring it up years later because he found a new development to the story. If you don’t believe me, just ask about His and Garnett’s campaign. Kaleb shares Garnett’s love for anime and video games. Kaleb is currently attending flight school so that he can become a commercial pilot. He is the first person Garnett will go to if he needs someone to talk to, mostly because he’s the only one that will pick up.
Landon Melendez
Groomsman
Landon is Garnett's cousin and Kaleb’s (best man) older brother. He is also Garnett’s “partner in crime.” Growing up, Landon and Garnett would do everything together to keep themselves from being bored. Whether it be jumping a fence and running through the woods to eat sushi miles down the road, or playing video games for hours on end, they would never get bored if they were hanging out. Speaking of video games, Landon was always the “final boss” of every game that they would play together and he was very competitive about it. From Smash Brothers tournaments to family Mario Kart nights, he would sweep everyone under the rug and leave nothing behind. He is the most down to earth person who always takes the time to help those in need. Landon is the person to talk to if you need a laugh or just need someone to talk to. He also has some embarrassing stories about Garnett if you’re looking for a laugh.
Will Bandy
Groomsman
Will is Garnett’s biological brother and his sparring partner growing up. Every week they fought each other at least one time over the most outrageous reasons. Will and Garnett would always find something to do around the neighborhood because they couldn’t come back home until dinner was ready. This led to them being boys and riding up and down the street in their bikes jumping make-shift ramps and splitting their forehead open because they ran into a curb on the side of the road. Will held the record in his family for having the most injuries in a given year, most of them from playing football. He can get along with anyone and is one of the friendliest people in the wedding party. If you want to know any horror stories about past injuries or just a story about Garnett getting hit in the head with a driver, he’s the person to talk to.
Will Wright (WC)
Groomsman
WC is Garnett’s brother. He has been with the family since 2010. WC and Will have been best friends prior to being adopted by the Bandys. WC has helped Garnett come out of his shell by inviting him to events he wouldn’t normally do by himself. WC and Garnett had their fair share of fights, but they always settled them by playing Black Ops or GTA. WC currently lives with Garnett and is studying law at Georgia Gwinnett College. There are few people that Garnett trusts to be there for him when something happens, and WC is one of them.
Anthony Carr
Groomsman
Anthony is Kayla’s brother. He, his wife, Brandi, and their children, Emrie and Dax, live in Knoxville, TN. They are also expecting twins in September. Anthony is a hard worker who has always enjoyed working with his hands. As a kid, he often hung out with our dad when he was remodeling or flipping houses, so he learned a lot of construction skills along the way. He now works for the City of Knoxville. Anthony also enjoys playing video games, going on date nights with Brandi, swimming in their pool, and when he has time, cooking/grilling. Anthony is also very smart, funny, and hard-working. Anthony and his wife began dating in high school and have now been married for almost five years. They enjoy creating new memories with their children.
Blake Salaverria
Groomsman
Blake is Garnett’s long-time friend that has known him and his family for more than 20 years. They would go on family camping trips together and stay up all night playing Golden Eye in the pop-up camper. Him and Garnett have the same taste in most things like video games, music, and movies. Surprisingly, he is a bigger Star Wars fan than Garnett is. He even introduced Garnett into the world of Star Wars. Blake is someone who Garnett looks up to because he is like a bigger brother. Blake currently lives in North Carolina with his wife and two kids.
Amy Carr
Mother of the Bride
Amy is an amazing wife and mother, but her favorite title is "Mimi". She is a godly, fun, hard-working woman who loves working with kids, traveling, and singing in the choir/praise team at her church. Kayla and Anthony have awakened many mornings to their mom singing praise and worship songs around the house. She's probably one of the most resilient people I know. She has survived breast cancer and Leukemia. She has actually written a book about her faith and trust in God and life lessons she learned while on her cancer journey. The book is titled, “Dangling” and can be found on Amazon. Go check it out. 🙂
David Carr
Father of the Bride
David is Kayla’s dad. He’s a hard worker and is very kind. David is very much a “people person.” He’s never met a stranger and could tell you the history of nearly anything. David is a huge talker. He loves the Lord, his wife, and his family. David has been known to be the jokester of the family. He loves to tell jokes and make you laugh. He just started working for Progressive insurance. He is an insurance adjuster/crash investigator, & he absolutely loves it. One of David’s favorite things to do when Kayla and Anthony were kids was to wake them up by singing. Kayla did not like this because she would’ve rather stayed in bed all day.
Donna Bandy
Mother of the Groom
Donna is a kind and loving mom that has always loved meeting new people. Garnett never had to use an alarm while waking up for school because he would always wake up from his mom singing along to Arethra Franklin while making breakfast for the family. If that didn't wake Garnett up, she would throw the dog onto him to make sure he was awake. Donna is a former pre-school teacher and currently helps Garnett Sr. out with his ministry. They both live in Tennessee and still keep up with everything going on in their kids lives.
Garnett Bandy (G3)
Father of the Groom
Garnett grew up always being mistaken from his dad and still gets phone calls from people that mistake him for Garnett Sr. Garnett's dad taught him how to love people and serve others even when it's hard. Garnett Sr. used to work in customer relations but is currently a missionary with Donna Bandy. Garnett Sr. is a fun, loving, and gentle spirit and is the best story teller in the family.
Emrie Carr
Flower Girl
Emrie is Kayla’s sweet three-year-old niece. She is very smart, imaginative, and creative. She loves to pretend to be a princess or a doctor. She also loves her "babies", working puzzles, or playing with playdoh. She loves the outdoors and playing with her baby broghter, Dax. Like her mom, Emrie loves anything Disney. Also, some of her favorite shows include "Blippi", “Bluey” and “The Amazing Spidey Universe.” Garnett has definitely won her heart as he is one of her favorite people. He always knows how to make her laugh. Kayla loves being her aunt!
Finleigh McMillan
Flower Girl
Finleigh is the daughter of Kayla’s cousin, Wyl McMillan. She is a very inquisitive five-year-old with bionic ears and an unbelieveable memory. She loves singing in the children's choir at church, taking dance lessons, and feeding Sadie and the cows. She enjoys taking care of her dog, "Chief". Based on her love for animals, she says she wants to be a veteranarian when she grows up.
Daxton Carr
Ring Bearer
Daxton (Dax) is Kayla’s nephew. He is the younger brother of Emrie, one of our flower girls. He just turned two years old this past June. He loves playing with bubbles, balls, cars/trucks, puzzles, blocks, and swimming. Dax loves playing with Emrie and if he can't see her, he always calls out, "Emrie, where are you? He never wants to be without his big sister. Dax is loving and always ready to give a hug or throw you kisses. He is all boy and always on the go; running, playing, or climbing. He loves the outdoors and is always ready for the next adventure.
Mateo Melendez
Officiant
Mateo is Garnett's uncle and the father of Kaleb (the best man) and Landon (groomsman). He has officiated multiple weddings for friends and family. He currently has a ministry that helps pastors from around the world called Kingdom Footprint. Mateo and his wife (Cherene) have always kept their house open for people that want to drop by and hang out or need help. While Garnett went to college in Virginia, he lived with Mateo and Cherene for a semester and always came to them if something was wrong. Mateo is a very big fan of the Atlanta Braves and LSU Tigers and knows every statistic there is to know about those two teams. He is a great story teller and amazing listener.
Shannon Morris
Wedding Planner
Shannon has been a friend of the Carr family for over twenty years. They met when she and her family joined the ministry team at Chilhowee Hills Baptist in 2000. Her husband, Dr. Chuck Morris, is the Executive Pastor at CHBC and Shannon is faithfully leading the CHBC Celebration Choir. She and Chuck have two grown children, Tim (Caroline) Morris, and Abbey (Donald) Paige, and are new, very proud, grandparents to Luke Morris born earlier this year. Shannon works at the University of Tenessee and has years of experience in ministry, event planning, directing productions, choreography, and is an exceptional vocalist and pianist. She is an extremely talented and a blessing to all who know her.