Lee and Hailey’s Wedding Story

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

Life is a journey not a destination

A Match Made in Heaven

by Tracy McCoy

“I Have Found the One My Soul Loves” – Song of Solomon 3:4

The first time I laid eyes on this bride, she was a little girl. A sweet little curly headed girl visiting the beauty shop with her momma. She was as feisty as her mom would let her be. Adorable for sure. Her mother was one of a kind, everyone knew her and loved her. So what is a child to do who lives in the shadow of a rockstar mom like Gail Thompson Ramey and a steadfast father like Edwin Ramey? You become a shining star just as bright and beautiful with a steadfast spirit. Elisha (affectionately known as Leesh) Ramey is always smiling and the same every time you cross her path. She is as tough as a pine knot and still feisty when it calls for it.

God surely knew exactly the kind of guy who could win her heart. Justin came into her life at just the right time. To say that Elisha has faced challenges is a gross understatement. She has always landed on her feet even if she had to crawl first. She was in the perfect place to watch God unfold her future. Had it been another time, she might have missed it, but as they say, God’s timing is perfect. She and Justin had met through an app for singles. Becoming friends first through chatting, they agreed it was time to meet. So, the first date included an invitation to come to enjoy supper with Justin and his son, Desmond. It went very well and catapulted this long overdue romance into overdrive. “I pretty much knew that night after we played long into the evening, that I was going to marry him,” she told me. “The next day, I left for the beach and when I returned we spent the day together. He met my dog and my daddy. When he got along with both, I knew that God had answered my prayers for a wonderful and Godly man to come into my life.”

sense in wasting time. Elisha knew that Justin was the one and he knew he could not let this woman get away. They were together every spare minute and Desmond was the icing on the cake. “I never imagined that I would be blessed with a family of my own and be able to give love to someone like I can with him,” Elisha told me when we chatted. Justin loves the adventures that life with Leesh includes. He knew what the first step was… to ask her daddy if he could marry her. Once that was done, a ring was purchased he just had to wait for the perfect opportunity. In early February Edwin suggested the three go down to Water Gauge on the Chattooga River. So Elisha, Justin and Desmond took off. When they arrived they walked the shore. Justin commented on how beautiful the river was and Elisha agreed. When Justin didn’t respond she turned around and saw Justin on bended knee with a ring and heard the words, “will you marry me?” The answer was a yes that no doubt scared the fish!

Plans were made for a simple and sweet wedding at Branches and Vine Farm owned by Wayne & Malivia Swanson. The farm is a perfect wedding venue for both small and large weddings located in Rabun Gap, Georgia. Elisha’s wedding coordinator Whitney Kelly helped her get everything ready. “Three months to plan a post-Covid wedding was exciting and so fun.” Meanwhile her dad prepared to walk his beautiful daughter down the aisle. The wedding was planned for May 22nd. The weather was perfect and the guests were seated. Justin was waiting for his bride when she stepped into the doorway of the barn as beautiful and radiant as he’d ever seen her. The wedding was precious and included a special chair with roses and an embroidered hankie in remembrance of her mother. The fragment of Gail’s favorite t-shirt sewn into the lining of her wedding dress and the assurance she could feel that her mom would have loved Justin and Desmond. “Mama always told me that ‘when you meet the man God has made for you, you will know it and nothing on Earth will be able to stop you from being together’, we both know that the hardships and pain of the past were worth it to find and love each other for the rest of our lives,” she shared.

Family and friends joined this new family as they began their life together and an outdoor reception lasted into the late afternoon. The new couple jumped on the back of a flat bed pickup and journeyed off into their new life. I forgot to share with you that the only thing bigger than Elisha’s heart are her dimples. With a grin from ear to ear she left the farm Mrs. Higgins and is excited to spend the rest of her life loving these two fellas. Cinderella ain’t got squat on Leesh!