“There were multiple instances I knew Stacey was the one, but it started to become obvious when I had a pretty significant shoulder injury early on in our relationship,” Sarah Wilson shares about the beginnings of her romance with her now-wife Stacey Schulz. “I was a mess. I was angry, sad, in excruciating pain constantly, irritable, spending all of my money on any treatment that would help and she just kept on taking care of me.”
Wilson recently moved back to St. Pete from Noblesville, Indiana and works as General Manager at the Mad Hatters Ethnobotanical Tea Bar. She shares where they were when she first met Schulz, who is a St. Pete native currently employed as a Software Product Specialist at SCC.
“We first met in Gulfport years ago when a mutual friend introduced us,” she says. “We didn’t end up dating though until years later when Stacey and a friend of hers happened to show up at a Christmas party where I was bartending.”
“I knew early on I was never going to find anyone else who would ever love me the way Stacey does and knew quickly I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her,” Wilson continues. “I can’t imagine my life without her and I especially can’t imagine going through the rest of this journey with anyone else.”
“There wasn’t a specific moment, but rather an accumulation of small but special moments that made it clear that Sarah was the person I was meant to marry,” Schulz chimes in. “She brings out the absolute best in me. She makes me strive to work harder and dream bigger, and with her by my side I feel like I can achieve all of my goals no matter how grand they may be.”
Wilson was the one who popped the question to Schulz while the couple was on a cruise together on the Baltic Sea.
“I was going to propose on our cruise when we were at the Mayan Ruins, but I ended up getting so sick on the cruise; I had to compromise,” Wilson admits. “I was determined to propose to Stacey on this cruise and I was running out of time, so I decided that going to the top of the deck and lying on a hammock together while floating on the Baltic Sea was the most romantic thing I could think of under the circumstances. It was just us and it was absolutely perfect.”
The pair tied the knot at Schulz’s parents’ house in Brandon, surrounded by loved ones. “We both loved that we had a small wedding with family and a small handful of our closest friends,” Wilson says. “The entire day was amazing, short of the weather, and was everything we both could imagine.
“There was a moment at the end of the ceremony that Stacey and I hugged each other,” she recalls, “and we both think it was then that things really felt official and the insanity of the last month was worth it.”
“What started out as a very simple courthouse ceremony turned into a wonderful day with family and friends that was thrown together in a very short 28 days,” Schulz says. “It was the most incredible, insane and stressful 28 days of both of our lives, but it was worth every second.”
Engagement date: July 8, 2017
Wedding date: Aug. 26, 2018
Venue: Stacey’s parents’ home in Brandon
Colors: Grey, earthy green and blush
DJ Service: DJ Shannon Chaney
Caterer: Rays Vegan Soul Food and Holy Hog BBQ
Officiant: Lucas Overby
Cake Bakery: Daileen Events
Cake/Cupcake Flavors: Vegan walnut carrot cake with maple cashew frosting
Theme: Boho Garden Party
Photographer: Cheri Davis Photography
Planning a wedding? Click here to check out our 2018 LGBTQ Wedding Guide to use as a great resource to find several LGBTQ wedding resources for your special day!
