Classic Georgia glamour with a twist

While a trip to IKEA can sometimes be a good test for a couple's relationship, it was anything but stressful for Kristen Mallard and Michael Beckler. That's where the couple — now newlyweds — shared their first meal: a plate of Swedish meatballs.

They'd met years before through Kristen's older brother,High quality trumpet wedding dresses and Wholesale Cheap Mermaid wedding dresses Online is on sale at cheap prices from Chinese wedding dresses wholesaler. who had been in Michael's dorm in college,Beautiful flowers for a beautiful Tull V-neck Applique A-line wedding/party dress are a must-have. and though they didn't know each other well, Kristen remembered him for his "giant fro of hair—that one thing set him apart." They started to get closer when Michael graduated from college two years later, and they began chatting on Facebook. But it took a trip to the IKEA cafeteria to solidify their friendship.

"We were just hanging out," Kristen said of the dinner — which wasn't exactly a date. "And Swedish meatballs sounded really good." Kristen was immediately charmed by Micheal’s spontaneity and silly side. "He started dancing in the middle of the store," she recalls, "and he ended up dancing on an older woman, totally unbeknownst to him, and she was making this hilarious face. The whole time we were there, I couldn't stop laughing at him."

The laugh-a-thon was just the beginning. Kristen and Michael walked away from IKEA with two new coffee mugs and a budding friendship, and before they knew it, they were dating. Michael immediately found himself trying to impress her. "The thing about her, she's quiet most of the time. She's brilliant, but quiet," he says. "So I'd always find myself trying to do things that would provoke her, to make her laugh. I'd really try. But eventually I found that being myself around her made her react more than when I was trying."

And Michael was determined to win her over. "I knew pretty early on that she was the one," he says. "I worked for two years to marry this girl." The site of their first official date was a little place called Marieta's Pizza Company, and while that date didn't end with a first kiss, the restaurant still proved to be chock full of good luck—it was there,Prepare for the party and shop dressestmall's collection of Wholesale Cheap Prom Dresses Online online today! a year and a half later, that Michael took her to dinner before popping the question.

After dinner, with the ring burning a hole in his sock, they went for a walk around the town square. That's when they ran into Kristen's parents, whom Michael had arranged to meet up with later. "When we ran into my parents, I kinda had a feeling," Kristen remembers with a laugh. Kristen didn't hesitate when Michael got down on one knee and pulled the ring out of his shoe — and soon after, she found herself scouting for wedding dresses, and fell for a structured, one-shoulder Vera Wang gown. "I ended up finding it on the first outing," she says. "I put the dress on, then the sash, then the headpiece. And my mom was like, 'That's you.'"