Conversation Starter He didn't think she would ever talk to him, but she married him in the end STORY BY BETSY ILER & PHOTOS BY SARAH MARIE PHOTOS
Michael called his family to bring him the engagement ring at the beach
W
The couple knew instantly that Tangarray was the perfect venue for their day
When Ashleigh Taylor married Michael Murphy last October, the bride knew an outdoor event was the only option. The first venue they visited was Eclectic’s Tangarray, and they loved it so much that they didn’t even look anywhere else. “He is very outdoorsy. He hunts every single day of hunting season, and he fishes. He is outside every possible day, and he stays outside until he has to come in. Our wedding had to be outside,” Taylor said of the man she has known longer than she can remember. “He is five years older than me, but we knew each other for a long time. We saw each other around, but we never really talked to each other.” The conversation started eight years ago when Taylor was attending Auburn University. She had gone to a friend’s house to watch a football game, and Murphy was there. To her surprise, he spoke to her, and to his, she con-
18 LAKE
tinued the exchange. “He said he didn’t think I would ever talk to him,” Taylor laughed. She knew it was love a couple of months after they started dating. They were snacking on Oreo cookies while watching a movie, and Murphy speared a cookie with a fork to dip it in the milk. “I asked him, ‘What in the world are you doing?’ and he said, ‘It’s the only way to eat an Oreo.’ I thought, ‘I think I love him!’” The rest is history. Murphy planned to propose while on a trip to Destin with the group of friends they both had known for 20 years, but he changed his mind when he learned another couple on the trip would announce that they were having a baby. He left the engagement ring at home, but later, he changed his mind and decided to go through with his original plan. He called his family and asked them to
FEBRUARY 2022
