Charlotte and Jake shared many surprises with their friends and family at their USNA & Annapolis Maritime museum wedding. They incorporated many meaningful touches, including their ceremony at their alma mater. Charlottes veil was her mothers, and she was carrying Jakes great grandmothers handkerchief from the 1800’s! I remember first chatting with Charlotte, her story about how Jake and her fell in love, captivated my attention. Their story inspired me to look deeper into each couples moment’s together. It truly brought my attention to how important it is to not take the time you have with those you love for granted. Whether you get to see someone everyday of the year or 35 days out of the year. The love these two have is unbreakable no matter the distance or time spent apart deployed. These two have been around the world together and I can’t wait to see what their future adventures entail.
(From Charlotte’s POV) “Jake and I are both in the military, and because of this, we have spent a lot of time apart. We had been dating for about two and a half years, and though we had talked about engagement, marriage and a family together, I was not sure that he was ready for that kind of commitment any time soon. Jake was most certainly playing the long game by making me think that he wasn’t quite ready. I was on a detachment in Fallon Nevada, and Jake was set to graduate from the Fleet Replacement squadron and join his new squadron in Korea… in 2 weeks. I was obviously devastated by this news, and didn’t even know if we would get to say goodbye to each other. I managed to be able to escape for the weekend and come to his graduation. Unfortunately for me, because of my hectic schedule and traveling, I got very sick. I managed to make it through his graduation and through the bar crawl that night. The next morning though (Saturday) my illness hit me like a ton of bricks. Jake kept trying to kiss me and tell me he loved me and wake me up that morning and although it was very sweet, I could not understand why he wouldn’t just let me sleep! Once I did get up, I essentially laid down on the couch and proceeded to sleep in and out for most of the morning. Jake asked me to go on a hike with the dog several times… and I refused. His parents were in town for the graduation, and his excuse for the dog walk was to have some time to ourselves. To make his argument even LESS convincing than hiking when I was sick, it was also RAINING. Eventually I caved and we went on a hike. We went to Sharpe park (a set of trails in the woods about a mile from our house). It was the first place we ever hiked together when we moved to Washington, it was also a place we went to watch the sunset one evening, and just a beautiful scenic outlook. Once we reached the top, we realized that the gorgeous view was nowhere to be seen, as a hazy gray mist had taken over the entire bay and up to our location on the hilltop. I apologized to Jake for being sick and not wanting to go for the hike, and he half hugged me, told me he would always be there for me when I’m sick, be there to celebrate when I have a good day, and always enjoy every moment of life with me. Jake is very romantic, but normally not much of a verbalizer. Immediately after he said this, he grabbed both of my hands, got in front of me, and…. got weird. He got so nervous that he kind of froze. He basically stood there and said…. well, I guess there’s just one more thing to ask… Then he got down on one knee and pulled out the most gorgeous ring I have ever seen. He asked me if I would marry him, and I immediately fell to my knees and broke down hysterically ugly crying. I still maintain that I managed to squeak out a yes… he disagrees. What I completely do NOT remember saying (but he INSISTS I did) was “This must be a joke, this can’t be real”. After making him panic for a hot second, I said absolutely yes (after ensuring he had already asked my dad for permission), and we laughed and kissed and hugged and cried (well…. I cried, and paced, and just generally freaked out). We returned home and by the time we had pulled back into the driveway I had pulled myself together again and stopped crying. This immediately changed as soon as I walked back into our house and his parents embraced me with “welcome to the family, that stone has been in the family since the 1800s, and we love you and are so happy to hand it down to you.” We all settled back onto the couches, I recounted the story to them…. and then proceeded to call everyone in my family and recount it again many many times that day. I really tried everything I could that day to sabotage Jake’s romantic proposal… and yet he succeeded, that, is why I love this man.”
USNA & Annapolis Maritime Museum Wedding Vendors:
Wedding Venue: Annapolis Maritime Museum
Wedding Ceremony: US Naval Academy Chapel
Wedding Planner: E. Anthony Weddings & Events
Wedding Photographer: Carly Fuller Photography
Wedding Pies: Main & Market Catering, Cakes and Confections Bakery
Invitations: Minted
Bridal Dress: Essence of Australia
Bridal Shoes: Elegant Park & Kailee P
Bridal Jewelry: Great Grandmothers wedding band (1937)
Rings: Greenlake Jewlery
Bridesmaid Dress: Davids Bridal
Makeup Artist: Bride: Rebecca Paolella
Hair Stylist: Bride: Rebecca Paolella
Florist: Little House of Flowers
DJ/Band: Music Masters MD
Transportation: An Extraodinair Limousine
First Dance Song: Fly me to the Moon, Frank Sinatra
