Bride: Kelli Marie Graham, 32, Architect
Groom: W. Jerrod Addison, 35, Financial Analyst
Married On: March 22, 2013
Wedding Location: Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
Wedding Style: Destination Bliss
College Connection
Kelli and Jerrod attended Florida State University at the same time but it took them years to officially meet. Jerrod spotted Kelli on campus two different times before they had the pleasure of being formally introduced, and each time he’d ask someone nearby, “Hey, what’s her name?” Nobody ever seemed to know, but he wasn’t discouraged. Jerrod knew he would bump into Kelli’s beautiful face once again. He pledged Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, and little did he know, one of his line brothers, Christopher, had attended high school with Kelli.
One night, Jerrod saw Kelli and Christopher talking, so he talked him into setting up an introduction. (Finally!) Kelli had a boyfriend at the time, so she refused to give him her number. Once again, Jerrod was deterred but not defeated. The next time he and Kelli crossed paths, she was a single woman. He asked her to have breakfast with him, and she agreed. “Over the course of my final year of grad school, Jerrod would text me verses from the bible and other motivational quotes to keep me from getting discouraged while I studied,” Kelli recalls. Although they had a special connection, their schedules were overloaded and they slowly lost touch.
Ask And You Shall Receive
Shortly after graduation, Kelli moved to Orlando for a job opportunity. On the way to work one morning, she said to God, “Lord, please send me a guy with some of what I want in a man but all of what you know that I need.” On her way home that day, her prayers were answered. She received a text message from her old friend Jerrod saying that he was also working and living in the Orlando area, and he suggested they meet up for dinner. Bet you can guess what happened next: “Over the next few months, we worked out together after work, went on dates and really took the time to get know each other,” she recalls. “Our friendship grew into love.”
New Year, New Us
On New Year’s Eve, Kelli and Jerrod were running errands together before their dinner reservations when he suggested that they stop by Lake Eola, the park where they’d always run together when they first started dating. “It was where our courtship truly began,” Jerrod recalls. They walked around the lake and talked about life, their love and what they truly mean to each other. They found the perfect spot to sit and look out onto the lake and then something special happened. Jerrod made his move. “He told me that he didn’t want to go into another year with me as his girlfriend,” Kelli recalls. “Then, he said, ‘Kelli, will you marry me?” She couldn’t wait to accept. Share their love and check out their fabulous destination wedding in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
