K + P
Meet Kristen + Parker! Their wedding day will forever go down as one of the sweetest, joy-filled days we’ve gotten to be a part of! Their excitement was SO contagious! The Tayler Gray Events team did such a beautiful job making all of K + P’s dreams come true. We loved every detail!
Here’s their love story - “Parker was a freshman at SMU when Kristen came to audition and tour the theatre department. Kristen sat in on a Friday lab before her audition that weekend and Parker was immediately smitten. He began to crack jokes (more so than usual) in order to make some sort of impression. Kristen then had lunch with the class afterwards and Parker and Kristen immediately hit it off. After lunch on the way back to the dorms, Parker said to himself out-loud, “I’m gonna marry that girl”. Unfortunately, Kristen was waitlisted and ended up not attending SMU and that was that. No fairytale love story. But then the next year, Kristen re-auditioned and got in and they immediately remembered each other and in the winter of that first semester, they started talking and by February of Kristen’s freshman year, they began dating. In January of 2020, Kristen was in a production of Pride and Prejudice and her father came into town to watch her. It was before the opening night of that show that Parker had dinner with him and Kristen’s twin and he asked him for permission to marry her. Side note: Parker has never seen, read, and knows NOTHING about Pride and Prejudice and so afterwards they then watched a 3 hour play about young men asking one father over and over again for permission to marry his daughters…information overload. (LOL) 7 years later, going through every scenario a couple can go through, Parker and Kristen went on vacation in London and it was there that Parker proposed.”
What drew K + P to choosing The Emerson for their best day - “Growing up, we have always imagined getting married in a little chapel surrounded by our friends and family. We wanted to find a place that also felt like home. The moment we drove up to The Emerson, we knew immediately we were goners. It had literally everything we have ever wanted., and we could see ourselves getting married here. After we took our tour, we sat in the car and made a pros and cons list (an assignment we agreed on doing before we scheduled the tour). Well, it ended up being just a list of pros because we could not come up with a single negative to write down!”
We got the chance to ask K + P what they’re looking forward to in marriage - K says, “Leveling up in the title department. It is such a silly thing, but being able to label Parker as "my husband" is going to be an amazing change. The titles of "boyfriend" and even "fiancée" have been great, and I have loved each phase. However, over the course of the last 8 years, Parker and I have accumulated a much higher level of life experience than your average couple, so those titles feel almost too small for us. When we get married, I am looking forward to "keep on keeping on" with Parker, but under a title that perfectly fits my love and commitment to him.”
If you were to ask Parker: “It’s strange, because Kristen and I have been together for so long that it almost feels as though nothing is changing. As mundane as it might sound, which it isn’t, but it’s just the logical next step. I want to spend the rest of my life with this person - and so I cant wait to make that commitment and enjoy what every day of our lives together is going to bring. That’s exciting to me. The day to day - but getting to share it with someone who I love and who loves me more than I can comprehend. I’m just so lucky that I found Kristen. She’s the perfect puzzle piece.”
Congratulations again to The Grays! We’ll never forget all the squeals + happy tears from your wedding day! It was all just so special! Another big thank you goes to the whole vendor team! You all created magic + it’s such a joy serving beside you. Be sure to check everyone out below along with all the rentals K + P chose from CL x EMERSON.
