Mary Grayson Nix & Russell Gaines Caden

May 28, 2022 – Alexander City

“Russell and I met in 2018 right after we both moved to Auburn. He lived down the street and I just so happened to be friends with his roommate. I woke up early to run each morning and my route took me by their house. I’d secretly try to time my runs when Russell would be walking to his car to leave for work so I could talk to him. He now says he was always watching out for me too! About a year later, he asked me out on our first date – right before the pandemic hit. Since we lived down the street from each other and everything was on lockdown, we spent a lot of time together during those months. It didn’t take long for us to make it official. About a year later, in May of 2021, Russell proposed. He knew I wouldn’t like something over-the-top, so he kept it simple. One evening in my home, after returning from teaching yoga, Russell got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. Of course I said yes! It was perfect.” – Mary Grayson

Advice From the Bride

“Hire a planner! My sister is a wedding planner so naturally I asked her to plan ours. The only thing I had involvement in was picking out my dress, and she did everything else on her own. I was completely surprised. She knocked it out of the park! Our wedding day was everything I could have ever dreamed and I highly recommend hiring a planner to take the stress off you, or in my case, plan a surprise wedding!” – Mary Grayson