When Matt Johnson met Taylor Youpa at a pub in Dallas, they were each out with friends. But once they made introductions and started talking, it was as if they were the only two people there.

“We talked for hours—about traveling, what we were doing,” Taylor recalls of their meeting. “He just seemed like a really good guy, and he was really cute, so we went on a date a couple days later.”

Matt, who was in his second year of business school at SMU, was immediately taken with how accomplished and driven Taylor was. Taylor, a teacher, liked that Matt pursued her and didn’t play games. It felt different from the start.

When Matt graduated with his MBA a year later, he fielded job offers from out of state but turned them down. “I knew that staying here with her was what I wanted,” he says. “I knew I had met my future wife.”

Though he did spend a year in Austin, he and Taylor visited constantly, and he took a job in Dallas the first chance he could. Before long, they moved in together.

In August of 2013, after three years of dating, they planned a getaway to Hilton Head, South Carolina. Matt thought it would be the perfect setting for a proposal. He planned to pop the question the first night of their vacation, atop a lighthouse at sunset. But rain dampened his plans. Thankfully, the next night was clear—just like Taylor’s answer.

For their ceremony, the bride quickly decided on First United Methodist Church, where her parents got married. For the reception, the art-history major chose the Nasher Sculpture Center. She chose a white color scheme and added pops of summery orange—Matt’s favorite color—with citrus.

There were personal touches throughout, from the watch Matt wore (a gift from her father) to Taylor’s wedding-day jewelry (her grandmother and great-grandmother’s). The groom’s cake—a carton of milk surrounded by chocolate-chip cookies—was a nod to Matt’s favorite nighttime snack.

After 10 months of planning, the big day arrived. This time, the rain steered clear, and their wedding day was picture perfect. “It turned out better than I would’ve even imagined,” Taylor says. “It was really special for us. We took in every moment.”

The party went on until almost midnight, at which point, the guests were ushered out to bid goodbye to the happy couple. But before they made their exit, Taylor and Matt enjoyed a private dance to “No One’s Gonna Love You” by Band of Horses.

“Dancing together, after the whirlwind of the wedding day, in such a beautiful setting, was something that I will always remember,” Matt says.

At that moment, though there were 200 friends and family members in attendance that night, it was as if they were the only two people there.

—Jessica Jones

“I knew that staying here with her was what I wanted,” he says. “I knew I had met my future wife.”