My oh my…we have been waiting a very long time to share Cortney & CJ’s engagement pictures with you! They were top secret until their fabulous invitations were sent out. We LOVE LOVE LOVE this couple! Everything about this wedding is going to be wonderful. There will be so many little details that we can’t wait to share with you after the wedding. In fact we spent last week looking around in an antique store for goodies and we found a lot! As you can see Kristen Weaver will be their photographer so we know their wedding picture will be flawless. You can tell how special this couple is by looking at their picture and reading the about the love that they have for each other!

Can you tell us the story of how the 2 of you met?

In 2009 when Cj and I met, we were both in a position in our lives where we were not ready to have relationships, we both had been through a lot in the few years before 2009 that had led us to just concentrating on our children and ourselves. I have a little girl named Mia who is now 5, and Cj has Genevieve who is 6. Cj is a professional surfer and gone almost 9 months out of the year and at the time I was just finishing up my Bachelors degree, we both had very busy lives. One day my friend Amber dragged me to a party for her friend Jeremy in Melbourne beach. I had never hung out in Melbourne, nor did I know anyone from that side of town…so I figured why not? It just so happen that the birthday party was also for Cj (if he showed up, because he was in another country doing a contest they did not know if he would be back in time). The party was a pool party/ BBQ, then we all went out later that night. Cj ended up showing up to the pool party with his daughter Genevieve. He had just stopped by to say Hi and that he did not know if he would be back because Genevieve was sick. That was the first time I had ever heard of, met or saw Cj. He looked so helpless with Genevieve in his arms, and of course as a mother I ran up to asses the situation. He would barely talk to me, but I introduced myself and tried to comfort him and give him some pointers. Luckily, his mom is a nurse and he was on his way to bring her over to her house. So I would not really say our first meeting was “love at first sight”. He actually barely gave me the time of day. The pool party went on and around 7pm, we all decided to get ready to go out. I did not think I would see Cj again, but I could not help thinking about him. He ended up showing up to the party shortly before we left to go out, and as he puts it had “his eye was on the prize”. He was a completely different Cj, but I was just having fun being friendly to everyone. He did not like this, and throughout the night would send random people I did not know over to tell me how I should be talking to him (Cj). Finally his best friends wife, Logan (who is now one of my bridesmaids and best friends) dragged me over to him (kinda awkward), but Cj and I talked the whole night, turns out we had a lot in common. The rest is history…we never stopped talking:)

Why did you choose to get married at a private residence? Is there any significance to the date you chose?

I originally had envisioned getting married under a huge oak tree in South Carolina somewhere, but when I realized my dream was a little out of budget. So our family friend and Cj’s God Father so generously offered up there home. The yard was so beautiful and so quaint (everything I should have wanted to begin with) that I knew this would be the spot. It is an amazing home on the inter coastal in Satellite beach. People always ask me if I am having a beach wedding, because Cj is a surfer, but my life is a beach and I would like to stay as far away from a beach wedding as possible:) There is no significance to the date, except for the fact that it is the only date that would work with Cj’s (and the rest of the professional surfers coming) really demanding World Tour schedule.

How did he pop the question?

I always envisioned Cj asking me to marry him, doing something small and low key…boy did he surprise me!

Cj and I had been discussing the possibility of marriage, for as long as I can remember. I knew after 4 months of dating him, that I was never giving up on this relationship and he made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t either:)

Cj travels ALOT and all over the world for his job. This year the professional surfing tour was going to New York! So Cj got this grand idea that he wanted to take me to the statue of liberty and ask me to marry him. He said it has nothing to to with the actual statue, but the view from the island looking back at the city is breath taking and he thought it would be a perfect back drop for a perfect moment.

Cj talked me into to going to New York, by telling me that he had to go there to do promotional stuff for the contest in New York. I thought, that makes sense, sense he is from the United States. He also told me that we had to go to the statue of liberty, because that is where we were meeting the rest of the surfers for a photo shoot. I thought that made sense too, and considering Cj is a terrible liar…I would know if this was a lie.

So, Cj talks me into flying to New York with him for one night. He booked this absolutely adorable hotel, called the Hotel Elise’. The itenerary was to get off the plane, drop our stuff off at the hotel and go straight to the statue of liberty, where Cj would have his photo shoot and then we would spend a nice evening in New York together. Of course, our flight was delayed. We took a taxi straight to the statue of liberty, but they would not let us on the boat with our luggage and the last boat to the Island was leaving in 20 min. Cj did everything he could to get us on the boat, to no avail. I just kept asking if he was going to get in trouble and he would just say, there is nothing we can do. So we went and checked into the hotel.

Lucky for Cj, Central Park was walking distance from our hotel. Un-lucky for me, it was about 30 degrees outside and I was freezing my butt off. Since we only had one day in New York, I thought a quick, brisk walk in the park might be nice. We get to the park and Cj is just yapping on and on about surfing and life, I dont think I was really even paying attention. I was thinking, i have wanted to marry this guy forever and we are in this beautiful place, we just walked over the most beautiful bridge and all he can think about is surfing? I was sort of rolling my eyes at him and getting cold and frustrated. Right then he changed the subject out of no where! he said babe…check out this website (remember…we are in the middle of Central Park, i didnt even know if my phone worked) but I knew right then EXACTLY what was about to happen:) It was a website called Myhoneypotlove.com (he calls me honeypot) it had pics of him and I and it said “Cortney will you marry me?” then I turned around and he was on his knee. I said “YES!” of course.

We had to wait almost 30 minutes for someone to finally walk by and take a picture of us, and by this time I was frozen to death but here are the few pics we got:)

 

Why did you hire {AATR}?

Well I had only interviewed one other wedding planner and she kind of ran me around in circles. I asked my photographer if she knew anyone who was to the point and would just get things done, she pointed me in the direction of Kristen. I made an appointment with Kristen and it turns out she was a friend from High school. I did not know it was her because she was married now and her name changed. I knew Kristen was a sharp shooter in high school and I knew she would be for me as well, plus I trusted her. I have really enjoyed the process with AATR, I really have not even had a worry…but hey still 2 months to go!:)

What has been the most difficult part about planning your wedding?

Honestly I have not really been worrying too much about the planning. I think the hardest part is remembering what the wedding is really all about. Cj and I becoming one in front of all the people we love and respect, and I can not wait!!!

Where will life lead the 2 of you after your wedding?

Well, Cj is still surfing and I am in the process of getting my Masters. We already have 2 kids and would like to have at least one more, God willing. There probably will not be too many changes, since we are not your typical couple. We already divide our time between our two homes, one in Orlando and one in Satellite beach, we spend time with our children and travel. Life is beautiful, and I think that we both intend to cherish it for as long as we can:)

 

 

We Can’t Wait!!!