Rachael & Carter's Wedding

Carter and Rachael met at the University of Tulsa on August 13, 2017, though we probably should have met a number of times before this. Both of us were active members of the United Methodist Church during our junior high and high school years, and we both attended many camps and conferences. Our paths never crossed, though I did meet CJ's brother, Dawson, at church camp. CJ and I had many common friends, including Ross Crawford. Ross had played in a worship band with CJ and was my youth minister in Enid when I graduated from high school. The summer before I went to college, Ross informed me of his master plan to set me up with some guy named Carter who was a year older than me and went to school at TU. Ross insisted to both of us that we would be perfect together and get married one day. I laughed off his matchmaking scheme and decided I’d see for myself about this Carter guy, if I ever met him.

 

I ended up meeting him within an hour of stepping foot onto campus, as he was one of the sophomores helping the new freshmen move into the dorms. We acknowledged our mutual friends, realized we had a lot in common, but completely ignored Ross’s matchmaking and decided we’d be better off as friends. I had an extra ticket to the first TU football game against OSU in Stillwater at the end of August, so the two of us went together and our friendship began. Over the next year or so we went to a lot of date parties and formals together, and I began attending church with him on Sunday mornings. We enjoyed each other’s company and shared a love for Mexican food, the sitcom Friends, and the great outdoors. The two of us went on many road trips with friends where we did a lot of camping, hiking, and snowboarding. Somewhere along the way, we realized that we really liked each other and that our friendship had evolved into a relationship. Over the years we learned more about each other and became more intentional in building our relationship. Together, we have shared lots of laughs, faced some challenges, made tons of memories, and have grown to love each other more deeply through all the highs and lows of life.

 

On October 25, 2020, Carter officially asked me to spend forever with him. He took me to Woodward Park in Tulsa where he had a picnic set up and the cutest Australian Shepherd puppy jumped out of the picnic basket to greet me. CJ got down on one knee, ring in one hand and puppy in the other. He asked if I would spend forever with him and the puppy. I said yes to both! We popped some champagne, celebrated the news with close friends and family, and named our puppy Ringo. We are so excited to start our lives together and look forward to celebrating our special day with those we love!