allory and Jordan initially met when they were fifteen and were both randomly chosen to attend a youth event at church. They were the only two there who didn’t know each other and were seated right across from one another. They both laughed at the awkwardness of the situation but hit it off over dinner. They weren’t allowed to officially date at the time but instead both signed up for every youth event offered at church to get to spend time with one another. Over time they became best friends. Almost one year later, they turned sixteen and were finally allowed to call each other boyfriend and girlfriend.
Mallory describes her proposal as perfect. It was Christmas Eve, and Jordan asked if he could take her to dinner. They usually spent Christmas Eve with their families, so she thought it was odd that he asked and even more odd that her parents had plans to have dinner with some friends, too. They went to one of their favorite restaurants where they had spent a lot of time over the years. Afterward, he told her they were going to run by their church to pick something up. When they arrived at the room where they had spent most of their youth getting to know one another, the room was filled with candles,
M HH
there was a cross lit up and music was playing. Mallory says, “Jordan led me to the foot of the cross and sat me down. He had gotten all of our letters we had written each other over the eight years and he had us read them to each other. We prayed and then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. We then cried and cried and hugged and cried some more!” Afterward, Jordan took her back to her parents house where their friends and family joined them to celebrate their engagement.
Mallory and Jordan were married at Robbins-Sanford Grand Hall in downtown Searcy. Both are students at the University of Arkansas and work alongside one another as minsters at First United Methodist of Springdale.
Mallory's Advice for Brides-to-be:
“Care about what YOU want to care about. Make a list of the top five things that are most important to you in order of importance and focus on those. I'd also recommend having your fiancé do the same thing...that way you know how to get him involved and make it more of an equal partnership in your planning.”
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