Andrew & Lauren's Wedding at the Museum

You could be forgiven for thinking that a museum filled with historic manuscripts and documents would seem an unlikely place for a wedding. But if you know Andrew & Lauren, who have an eye for the unique and unexpected and aren’t afraid to take a different path, it might not be such a big surprise. They’re both in their early 20s. They have tattoos and a sense of style and know the coolest places in San Marco and Riverside to grab lunch or a premium cup of coffee. But in some ways they’re old souls. They like reading books and poetry together and taking day trips to small towns and historic places. They make sandwiches and take them on picnics in the park. Sometimes Andrew wears a fedora to work, the kind newspaper reporters used to wear decades ago.

I had known Andrew’s family for years and watched from a distance as the homeschooled young man made his mark on the University of Florida and then interned at several well respected newspapers before landing a job at his hometown Florida Times-Union. It was there, last summer, that we got reacquainted and he told me that he was interested in Lauren. I only knew her in a second-hand sort of way, but I knew she must be special when Andrew told something you just don’t hear anymore:

“I asked Lauren’s father for permission to court her.”

Right away I knew that their relationship was going to be unique. It wasn’t going to be some type of experimental romance – trying on love like you’d try on a pair of shoes in the mall. Their commitment was to get to know one another in a well-thought-out kind of way – in a way that honored each other and honored God.

Those picnics and day trips and quality hours spent together confirmed what they had sensed early in their friendship, and on the last Saturday in June, they kissed for the very first time – right after the minister pronounced them man and wife.