Since Anna Grace Ledbetter and Brandon Terrell met in December 2019, they’ve carved their own unique path to forever. Their whirlwind romance began thanks to mutual friends, under the twinkle of Christmas lights with hot cocoa in hand. “Whether it was me or my family or friends, she was very intentional when you were around her,” Brandon recalls. “She wasn’t distracted and on her phone, she was present and showed interest and really wanted to get to know you.” But the blooms of spring also brought Covid-19 and the new love birds soon got a crash course in compatibility with a six-week quarantine in Anna Grace’s family beach house. “It was like putting your relationship in a microwave and zapping it,” Anna Grace says. 

But the trials only brought them closer and by the following summer, the two decided to throw tradition out the window and start wedding venue shopping before Brandon even got down on one knee. Dallas’ Hickory Street Annex stole their hearts with its industrial, rustic charm and the August wedding date was booked with another non-traditional idea in mind: a surprise ceremony. Anna Grace says it took some convincing, knowing she would have to keep not only her big day and ring a secret, but also have to give up the typical bridesmaids for the sake of the big reveal. But after Brandon’s romantic sunset proposal on the docks of White Rock Lake in June of 2020, Anna Grace was more than ready to take the plunge. 

With the help of the venue and Wedfully Yours Planner Elizabeth Selzer, the couple invited 100 guests to the event under the guise of an engagement party. Only the bride and groom’s parents, maid of honor, best man, and the officiant, Anna Grace’s grandfather lovingly known as “Bapa,” were in on the secret. The rest of the guests gathered on the first floor for a cocktail hour and hors d’oeuvres from Gil’s Catering only to be surprised with a spur-of-the-moment wedding ceremony with a letter from the couple on their way upstairs. “I think everyone will always remember the celebration,” Anna Grace says. “There was no fuss of getting dressed up and having tons of showers. No one had to stress or spend extra money. It was just our way of saying hey, we love you and we’re getting married, let’s just celebrate it.”