Andrea David and John Crawford Freeman

John Crawford and I (Andrea) first met at a mutual friend’s birthday dinner at Slice in 2013. It was for my college sorority sister and then roommate, DeeDee Shashy, and she was dating one of John Crawford’s best friends from home, John Shashy (they are now married and still our very dear friends). J.C. and I didn’t see or speak to each other for an entire year, and truth be told, to this day I don’t even remember meeting him at the dinner that night. Almost a year to the day later, we reconnected on social media. Once our friends DeeDee and John knew there was an interest there, they set up a barbecue at their house and invited us. We exchanged numbers and began dating.

We really wanted our love for Birmingham to shine through on our wedding day. Our out-of-town guests stayed at Aloft in downtown Homewood and were greeted with welcome boxes full of Birmingham original treats. Bob’s Best Cookies, Golden Flake Chips and a hand-drawn map of Birmingham to name a few. My other favorite detail of the day was getting to wear my mom’s veil. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to wear it on my wedding day. It had been so well preserved that it didn’t even need cleaning. We got it taken off an ’80s-style crown and put onto a more modern-style clip. It was so special being able to wear that heirloom piece and it went so perfectly with my gown.