written in the stars

Believe it or not, Lance and Leigha met on a dating app at Purdue. After an initial message about Yankee Candle, Lance offered Leigha his phone number, and much to her surprise, their numbers shared an area code! This should have been the first indicator of some good luck, as we each could have been from anywhere in the country but called the same place home. Being the very broke college students they were, Lance offered to make coffee so they could meet in person, and Leigha stayed for 6 hours talking -- she almost missed the concert she was planning to attend that evening. In terms of a love match though, Leigha wasn't sure -- Lance was ever persistent and called himself "her boyfriend" whenever referring to himself or when meeting her friends, and Leigha would insist that he was, in fact, NOT her boyfriend. Well, a few weeks later, they were officially dating in May 2016. Lance and Leigha complement each other in many ways, and as fate would have it, knew many people in common both at Purdue and at home. They have built a life together and surrounded themselves with an amazing, supportive, and at times idiosyncratic group of friends and family. They have accomplished many milestones in what has felt to be an extremely short time together, including having graduated from college and graduate school, living in three different states, traveling, and moving back home again. For their 5th anniversary in May 2021, Lance planned an amazing trip to St. Augustine, Florida—a few short hours from where they were living in Tallahassee at the time. When they had met, Leigha had let Lance know that “getting engaged and married was NOT in her 5-year plan”. On this trip, he planned a lovely seafood dinner (that he hardly touched, and she was concerned, but still clueless) as well as a ghost tour (where he went in to talk to the guide and she was STILL clueless) that ends at one of the famous St. Augustine “Love Trees” as seen in our photo above. If you kiss under the love tree, it’s said that you’ll have eternal love--- Leigha thought that was a lot of pressure, but Lance asked to kiss anyway!... and she was still not in on the surprise. When she went to take a photo with him and turned back around, he was on his knee. Since the 5-year plan had admittedly ended and there was no plan left, Lance suggested a new one--- and being a sucker for attention to that detail, Leigha obviously had to say yes. (let it be known that to her horror, she had forced him to look at engagement rings she liked for an hour the previous month after her best friend had gotten engaged-- when HER ring was already in the drawer upstairs) Their 5/13/23 wedding day is their 7th anniversary, and they can't think of any luckier way to say "I do". ✦We hope you enjoy our engagement photos from our special engagement spot and favorite place! If you’d like to learn more about the symbiotic live oak and sable palm trees known for their magical love powers, take a look at this Atlas Obscura article. Ours in the one shown on Cordova Street! ✦ (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-love-trees-of-st-augustine-st-augustine-florida)