Karlie & Alan Aiken October 7, 2017

August 17, 2016 was the lunch date that changed my life forever. Alan and I had a mutual friend who had encouraged us to meet for quite some time. Before doing so, we had several months with casual banter through text and then agreed to meet. At first, there was an obvious physical attraction (he was in his State Trooper uniform, so that was a bonus). We were both pretty nervous, but had effortless conversation.

On our second date, we sat and talked for five hours. I’d never met anyone that I could talk to like I did with him. Nothing was off limits and we just connected. I knew in the first week that I would marry him.

Fast forward three months later, November 25th. Alan had been acting very strange for the past few weeks, but he said he was planning a Christmas present for me. We were visiting his family for Thanksgiving in Mountain View. Alan invited our friend that was responsible for introducing us to take photos that we could gift to our families for Christmas. I was burning daylight attempting to apply fake lashes and red lipstick to make the pictures really pop. Sensing some impatience, our friend kept saying “just be yourself.”

I would soon know why! She positioned Alan to be down on one knee in a photo. As I turned around to get up he said, “I’m going to stay here for a minute.” That’s when I realized what was happening. Immediately I began to weep and without hesitation, I said, “YES!” I knew Alan was the one!

When we began the venue search, there were a few elements we required: affordable, accommodating, and overall environment. Alan is quite the history buff and served in the Air Force, so when we stumbled upon the Arkansas Air and Military Museum, we knew that it was the perfect location to have our ceremony and celebrate our union with friends and family. The antique planes and cars became part of our decor which was fun for us and all of our guests.

I wore a blush, raw silk dupioni and tulle, fit and flare gown by Justin Alexander. Once I found the dress, I pinned down the color scheme: variations of burgundy, navy blue, greenery galore with rose gold accents. My exquisite bouquet by ZuZu’s Petals was fashioned around a king protea and was the most beautiful arrangement I’d ever seen. We hired Jason Hudson as our talented photographer and had the Magic Mirror photo booth to capture the best memories to last us a lifetime.

Arkansas Air and Military Museum // Venue Simply Divine Catering // Catering Jason Hudson Photography // Photography