Cydney+ Kailon

SHAKESPEARE’S RESTAURANT & PUB

ELLWOOD CITY, PA

WEDDING DATE: September 9, 2023

WEDDING LOCATION: Terrace at Hyatt House (Pittsburgh, PA)

OCCUPATIONS: (Kailon): Senior Account Service Manager |

(Cydney): Director of Production and Client Acquisition

HOW THEY MET: Kailon and I met on August 28th, 2016 during a casual night out on the city’s South Side with mutual friends. Ironically, we both graduated from Penn State, were interested in each other, and unknowingly, convinced our friends to set up a neutral “date”. That date happened to be the very next day! We hung out again and exchanged numbers and began talking every day.

PROPOSAL STORY: Surrounded by our closest friends and loved ones, Kailon popped the question on Thursday, June 3rd in a beautiful garden in Phipps Conservatory. I was completely surprised! I thought we were headed to a photo shoot (which was an idea he secretly planted in my head by having my normal photographers pitch it my way), and then a surprise family dinner I had scheduled to celebrate Kailon’s 30th Birthday. Needless to say, we canceled the reservations I made for his 30th birthday as he already booked reservations for us to celebrate the start of our new journey together!

ENGAGEMENT SESSION THEME: One of the first places Kailon and I visited together was Ireland. There was something so beautiful and captivating about the historic landmarks and castles there that gave a timeless and romantic feel. When we began thinking about our engagement photos we wanted them to have some sort of special nod to our first time out of the country. So I went to work on finding a castle near Pittsburgh, PA and stumbled upon Shakespeare’s Restaurant & Pub located in Ellwood City (just 45 minutes outside the city). It was absolutely STUNNING and the surrounding landscape was breathtaking. I wanted our attire to be similar to our wedding colors so we decided on 2 looks, one neutral look, and one black look.

It rained unexpectedly when the day called for a zero percent chance of rain. My fiance also had car trouble on the way to the shoot. The sky turned orange, pink, and purple, literally painting the most beautiful backdrop for our session. We were left with only one hour of daylight to shoot, but you wouldn’t be able to tell! With the help and encouragement of our super amazingly talented photography crew, everything turned out PERFECT!

FIRST DATE? Cydney : “Kailon surprised me by planning our first 5 dates only days after meeting. For our first official date, we went to see the Pittsburgh Pirates play and then went to one of our favorite restaurants, today: Burgatory! Kailon was secretly sold after I purchased him a Pirates shirt to match me to wear to the game.”

Kalion : “Up until that point I hadn’t owned any Pirates attire and I explained to Cydney that I’d never had a woman make a gesture like this on date number 1 — especially not when I’m the one who’s courting. We had a great time and even better conversation. Everything felt so natural, including our trip to our now favorite restaurant Burgatory following the baseball game.”

Cydney: “For the first 2 years, we were in a long-distance relationship as I was working as a news anchor in Bridgeport, West Virginia. Every week

How did you know your partner was the one?

I realized Kailon was the one when I recognized that I had a partner who was in the ring with me. Everyone knows that relationships are not easy and take lots of work. No matter what we have faced, Kailon has never shied away from putting in the work with me so that together we built something that would/could withstand any challenge that comes our way.

Kailon would drive up in the middle of the night to see me off to my overnight shifts, and every weekend I would travel home to spend time with him. During that time we didn’t have a lot, but we created some of the most priceless memories together."

FAVORITE THING TO DO AS A COUPLE? Kailon and I LOVEEE food, so trying new restaurants is definitely a favorite. We also love traveling and seeing new places together. We are both music lovers so we also enjoy attending concerts together!

HOW HAS WEDDING PLANNING BEEN SO FAR? Wedding planning has been great thus far. We decided to have a longer engagement in order to allow more time to pay for the celebration, which was probably one of the best decisions we could have for us specifically. We are just a few months away and have secured all of the big stuff (venue, planner, caterer, photographer, videographer) and outside of the smaller details, we can now coast until the big day!

TELL US WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO MOST ON THE WEDDING DAY: Kailon and I are really looking forward to just waking up on that day and basking in everything that it brings. We have been very careful in selecting our vendors and choosing our guests because we only want positive and genuine energy to surround us and our loved ones on that day. It feels like we have been planning for so long not to mention how taxing the process has been at times, to say the least.

While constantly preparing for our big day, we have made it a point not to lose sight of our love, making intentional efforts to enjoy ourselves, even with something so little as ice cream dates. This allows us to focus on what we’ve built and what we are continuing to build while confronting the many distractions that come from planning our big day. We truly believe that a great deal of peace will come once the process is over and we can settle into finally being Mr. & Mrs. Lyons! ”

Vendor Credits

ENGAGEMENT RING: Henne Jewelers SUIT: Express