Summer Anne Lowe & Carson Faulkner Griffis

December 7, 2024 – Birmingham

“We both ended up in Nashville after college. I moved from Alabama/Florida to chase a career in marketing, while Carson came from New York to pursue his Master’s at Vanderbilt. It was one of those weekends when fate seemed to have a plan. A mutual friend invited us to a gathering, but we didn’t cross paths until later that evening when we all decided to head to a karaoke bar. We were sitting at the same table and a conversation sparked. There was something effortless about it, like we had known each other longer than we had. The music, the laughter, the unexpected connection – it all felt like a beautiful beginning to what would turn out to be our forever. Although our paths may have crossed before being at the same places at the same time, we didn’t cross paths until we were both in Nashville starting our new careers.

I’m from the PCB/30A area, so naturally, I’ve always had a deep love for the beach. One weekend, I went home to spend time with my family and to celebrate two of my best friends’ birthdays. Little did I know, Carson had secretly planned a proposal while I was down there with my friends. We spent the day in Rosemary Beach and WaterSound, celebrating my friends, and before dinner, we decided to stop by the WaterSound Beach Club for a quick visit. As we walked down the dock, I saw Carson standing at the end, dressed up, and in that instant, I knew this was it. He met me at the end of the dock with my best friends by his side, and we finished the walk together toward the spot where he would ask me to spend forever with him.

Afterward, we headed to a surprise party at a beautiful house in Alys Beach. When I walked in, I couldn’t believe it – my closest friends from all parts of my life were there, from home, college, and Nashville. And as if that wasn’t enough, Carson had also surprised me by bringing in my entire family. To top it all off, some of his friends from college flew down to celebrate with us. It was, without a doubt, the best night.” – Summer

Advice From the Couple

“Our advice to others planning a wedding would be to not get too caught up in all the details or focus solely on the wedding day. It’s so easy to become consumed with the planning process, and in doing so, forget to focus on the marriage itself – the vows you’re about to make to one another. During our own planning, we made it a priority to set aside time to talk about our marriage. Every month, on the 7th, we’d go on a date night to celebrate getting closer to the big day. It was a time to just talk about our life together, our hopes for the future, how we wanted to build a strong foundation for our marriage, and not just focus on the wedding.

Remember, a wedding is just one day, but a marriage is forever. Don’t get caught up in the small stuff. What matters most is that you’re about to marry the love of your life. Hold onto that and everything else will fall into place.” – Summer