Bride: Courtney Olivia Patterson, 30, Truancy Officer
Groom: Sean Michael, 30, Financial Analyst
Married On: September 6, 2015
Location: Fontainebleau Hotel, Miami Beach
Wedding Style: Modern Elegance
Time For Love
When the time is right for love, it will find a way. Just ask newlyweds Sean and Courtney, who first met in 2000 when they were sophomores in high school in the same PE class. “The first day I met him, I gave him my phone number,” she recalls. “But he never called! He was a super shy guy back then and I was very talkative and outgoing. I think I was a bit too much for him at the time.” Eventually, they became friends and he finally asked her to go on a date with him during their senior year. He took me to see “Signs”. I remember nothing from that date. Unfortunately, Courtney tells us the date wasn’t that memorable even though they wound up going to homecoming together that year. Without real sparks, they moved on and lost touch after graduation. “We spoke a few times via AIM when we were freshmen in college but that was it,” she adds. “When I ran into him one random night in 2013 it had been almost 10 years since we had seen each other in person. Unbeknownst to me, he casually kept up with my life via Facebook.” Although they weren’t high school sweethearts, this time around the magic was there. “It’s amazing how timing is everything,” says the bride. “We were both at the right place at the same time, giving us the opportunity to reconnect and get to know each other all over again.” This time it was love.
Because I Love You
Months before the proposal, Sean bought Courtney several dresses, just because. One of them was a white, form-fitting wrap dress with ruffles that fell above her knee. (Remember that part, it will make sense later.) About a month before the proposal, Sean told her that his friend was having a birthday dinner party at the National Harbor in Maryland. Leading up to the proposal, Courtney had a slight feeling that Sean was lying about the birthday and thought that maybe he was going to propose. “I wondered why my mom was so concerned about what I was going to wear to this ‘birthday’ party and why a friend of mine ended up coming to my house the week before to give me some options for blazers to wear with the white dress that Sean wanted me to wear,” she recalls. “It didn’t help that the morning of the proposal, another friend wanted to ‘treat’ me to a manicure and pedicure. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Sean had given her the money to take me.” As you might have guessed, Courtney was pretty close to figuring out Sean’s plans for her – and boy were those plans grand. When they arrived at the National Harbor, they checked into their room. After dinner, they started walking toward another restaurant. As they turned the corner to walk downstairs, Courtney noticed a bunch of people standing outside. “Why are these people standing out here?” she asked. “It’s cold!” The further down the stairs they walked, she begin to recognize people she knew. As she listened to the string quartet play, it hit here: ”This was my moment. It was really happening. I could barely walk as my heart started to beat out of my chest. At one moment, I stopped walking because I felt like my legs couldn’t carry me the rest of the way. But Sean kept pulling me to get me to keep walking.” Sean’s romantic proposal followed and Courtney cried tears of joy. See their spectacular “I dos” now.
Photos: Keith Cephus Photography