Some love stories begin with a grand introduction. Anna and Hayes’ began on a jumbotron.
The two had grown up in Jackson, Tennessee, always vaguely aware of one another but never quite crossing paths. It took a Memphis Grizzlies playoff game to finally change that. Anna and her sister happened to appear on the arena’s jumbotron during a celebrity lookalike moment, Hayes saw the moment, found Anna on Instagram afterward, and sent her a message, and the rest is history!
From there, he asked her out.
The destination wedding was Sandestin, Florida, a place that already held meaning for the couple and their families. When they began talking about their wedding, they knew they didn’t want the 300-plus-person celebration that would likely come with getting married at home in Jackson. Instead, they wanted something smaller, more intimate, and distinctly different from anything they could create there.
“If we’re bringing everyone down here, I want it to be something totally different than what anything we could do in Jackson,” Anna said.
That idea ultimately became a wedding weekend that felt less like a traditional production and more like a long-awaited summer gathering: full of family, friends, sports, the beach, and plenty of personality.
By Saturday morning, the energy was remarkably calm. Anna and her bridesmaids spent the day at a rented house, drinking coffee, getting ready, and enjoying the anticipation together.
Then, at 10 a.m., the plan changed. After torrential rain through the night and a forecast calling for a near-certain chance of rain, Anna’s mother, the planner, and the venue team made the decision to move the ceremony from the golf course to its backup location.
For a wedding with so many moving parts, it could have been a crisis. Instead, it became part of the story.
Because the guest list was intimate, everyone could be notified quickly. The decision was made, the text messages went out, and the day continued. “It honestly kind of gave the day a little bit of buzz,” Anna said. “It was kind of fun. Like we’re switching it up. Be ready for a new location.”
That spirit carried through the rest of the day.
Anna and Hayes had always known they didn’t want a first look. They wanted to preserve the moment when Hayes would see Anna walking toward him for the first time. Even as they worked through the logistics of a wedding without one, John encouraged them to stay true to what they actually wanted.
And when Anna finally turned the corner, there was no question that they had made the right choice.
Hayes’ expression said everything.
“He was confident in his decision,” Anna remembered. “When I turned and saw how happy he was, I was like, ‘There’s no way I can be nervous.’”
And then came the reception, which was intentionally unlike anything their guests had experienced before. Anna and Hayes had chosen to celebrate aboard a boat, transforming the upper deck into an open-air reception overlooking the water.
Anna wanted the feeling of an East Coast summer kickoff party, the kind of evening that might happen in the Hamptons, with the relaxed energy of the Florida coast.
The boat became a blank canvas. Lounge seating, florals, dancing, and an open-water backdrop turned it into something that felt both elevated and completely unfussy.
They danced to Fleetwood Mac’s “You Make Loving Fun,” handed out captain’s hats and tambourines, and surprised guests with towels inspired by the Grizzlies’ “Grit and Grind” tradition. It was a nod to where their story began and a reminder that the most memorable details don’t always come from a wedding trend. Sometimes they come from your own history.
Even Hayes’ surprises were deeply personal. His groom’s cake celebrated his love for SMU and the ACC, while his one non-negotiable wedding request was waiting for them after the boat: Whataburger.
By the end of the night, the couple made their exit in a golf cart driven by one of Anna’s best friends from high school, followed by a sparkler send-off.
It was fitting. Nothing about the day had been overly scripted, and that was exactly what made it feel so unmistakably theirs.
“Married Hayes has been the best version of Hayes,” Anna said. “He is so proud and happy to have a wife. It’s just like a little kid in a candy store.”
And perhaps that is what made the celebration so memorable. From a jumbotron in Memphis to a proposal on the Florida coast, from a last-minute ceremony change to a reception on the water, Anna and Hayes never tried to make their wedding look like anyone else’s.
They simply made it theirs.
