“Kaitlyn is very giving,” Jackie says. “There’s no circumstance you need to follow – it’s just very unconditional.”
Kaitlyn Edwardson, who is a baker, and Jacquelyn “Jackie” Edwardson, who is a theme park performer, met when they both lived in California working for Disneyland.“We became friends slowly, not like super good friends right out of the gate but really slow friends,” Jackie says. “After my college program was over, I needed a place to live,”
Jackie and Kaitlyn ended up agreeing on living together. The women got closer, became better friends and then that’s when feelings started to develop.
“I liked Jackie far before she liked me and neither of us had ever been in a relationship like this prior to this,” Kaitlyn says.
So knowing Jackie can never say no to a bet, they were coming back from Dapper Day at Disney and she bet Jackie she would never kiss a girl – so she kissed Kaitlyn. That’s where it all started, and they’ve been together ever since. Eventually, they moved to Orlando after both women were able to find jobs at Disney World.
“I knew I wanted to marry Jackie when we still lived in California,” Kaitlyn says. “It took a lot of just getting comfortable with ourselves and our relationship to open up to other people about it, to make it OK to even think about proposing.”
Since Disney was really special to the women and was the reason they became who they were, Kaitlyn knew she had to incorporate Disney into it. Jackie loved The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights ever since they moved to Florida. When they found out it was closing, Kaitlyn knew that was when she should propose to make the last light showing that much more special for Jackie.
Kaitlyn suggested prior to the shoot they get prop boxes to use in the photoshoot, which Jackie thought was a bit odd. During the photoshoot, the photographer had them incorporate the boxes by opening them and told them to act like they were surprised. When they opened their boxes, Kaitlyn’s was empty but Jackie’s had an ornament in hers. It took her a minute to realize the ornament said “Will you marry me?’ on it with a ring tied to it. A surprised Jackie, of course, said “yes”.
The couple planned their wedding for about five months, but their families weren’t exactly happy about the occasion so they ended up just scratching the entire thing and eloped in May 2016.
The couple planned a ceremony at Lake Louisa State Park, and they invited their close friends – and some of the furry kind.
“We love dogs, and we know a lot of our really good friends love dogs too,” Jackie says.
Kaitlyn says that Jackie has taught her not to care about other’s opinions and to just be herself and grow.
“She’s just always there for me even when I didn’t know that I needed her,” Kaitlyn says. “She was there for me during the hardest time of my life when my brother passed away, and she’s there for me on the happiest days of my life.”
YEARS TOGETHER: 5 years
ENGAGEMENT DATE: December 16, 2015
WEDDING DATE: May 20, 2017
WEDDING VENUE: Lake Louisa State Park
WEDDING PLANNER: Self-planned
WEDDING CATERER: Kaitlyn baked everything, including the cake.
WEDDING COLORS: A subtle Disney theme with the colors being merlot, white and charcoal gray
FIRST SONG: “So Close” by Jon McLaughlin
FAVORITE DISNEY MOVIE: “Enchanted”
INTERESTING FACT: The couple loves dogs — they currently have 10!
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