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Kelsey Stone
So excited for you all to get to know this beautiful couple! I had the pleasure of going to High School with Kelsey and Heath, but I was younger and I really only knew them from afar. What I knew about them was only ever good things. After getting to talk with Kelsey more through this process I learned so much about her and her relationship and marriage to Heath. Their relationship was one built on freindship and they truly are best friends that are in love with eachother. They put the Lord first and eachother second and are an amazing example of what it looks like to build a relationship the right way. I am so honored to have them be a part of Just be and cant wait for you all to read their story. Also congratulations are in order for the now parents who recently welcomed a new member into the family!!
Wife’s name: Kelsey Bailey Stone
Husbands name: Heath Ellis Stone
How long have you been married? 2 years
When did you get married? June 14, 2013
Short story of timeline before engagement and marriage:
Heath and I were close friends in high school. Even when we went to different colleges, Heath went to the University of Tennessee and I went to the University of Alabama, we talked on the phone regularly. We often sought advice on our current relationships. After my sophomore year at Alabama, I transferred back to Tennessee. That summer, Heath had arranged for an 8 year old boy to fly to the United States for brain surgery following a head injury from the earthquake in Haiti. He was here most of the summer recovering at Heath’s parents’ house. I spent a lot of time helping entertain this little boy as well as hanging out with Heath. Heath asked me to go on a mission trip to Haiti that he was going on to take the little boy back; I quickly agreed and made arrangements to go. We went on the trip in the beginning of August right before school started back. When we came back home, we realized our feelings for each other had grown into more than a friendship. Heath asked me to be his girlfriend 10 days after we got home from Haiti and the rest is history…
Indoors or outdoors wedding?
Our ceremony was outdoors and our reception was indoor/outdoor.
Where did you get married?
We got married in Rosemary Beach, FL. The ceremony was on one of the greens and the reception was at the Town Hall.
Did you do a first look?
We didn’t do a first look. Growing up, my favorite part of the wedding ceremony was watching the grooms face when he saw his bride for the first time. I wanted him to see me for the first time as I was walking down the aisle and I wanted our guests to be able to share this special moment with us. I also feel like it added to the excitement. I just wanted to run down the aisle to get to see him.
How did you ask your bridesmaids to be in your weddng?
I had 7 bridesmaids including my sister who was my maid of honor. I asked them by putting sand and a note in a bottle. Each note was looking back on my relationship with each of my bridesmaids and how they had influenced my life.
Live band or Dj? Were you happy with the music, anything you would have done differently?
We had a live band and an iPod which worked out perfectly. The band was playing when everyone entered the reception venue and while the guests were eating. After everyone had eaten we played the iPod. We played some of Heath and I’s favorite dance songs which got everyone onto the dance floor. When the band members had gotten a good break and a chance to eat, they came back on and finished up the night. It was great because the classic songs that we grew up dancing to, along with our friends, got everyone onto the dance floor before the band ever came out.
Did you hire a wedding planner?
When we first started planning the wedding Heath didn’t want to spend the extra money on a wedding planner. I convinced him that this was something we really needed since we were having a destination wedding. Heath will now tell you that this was the best money we spent on the whole wedding. They took so much stress out of planning. They did things behind the scene that we would never have thought about. I also loved that they could tell all of our vendors what time to be there and where; they directed the rehearsal; they made a complete timeline for Heath and for me, such as where we needed to be at what time for the whole day, as well as for our family members. I felt like I just got to show up on the day of our wedding and enjoy every second of it. It was completely stress free.
Did you have a videographer?
We had a videographer and are so glad that we paid the extra money for this. We have cherished this video and been able to share it with friends and family that were not able to attend. Heath and I have also made it our tradition to watch this video on our anniversary.
Did you leave for the honeymoon the day after the wedding or later, why did you leave when you did?
We got married in June and didn’t leave for our honeymoon until August. I was in summer school so we waited until my semester ended. At first we were bummed that we had to wait, but looking back I wouldn’t have changed it. It gave us time to come home, move in together, write our thank you notes and then we still had something to look forward to.
What was your favorite wedding detail you put into your big day?
This isn’t necessarily a detail for “the big day,” but the whole week. Because we had a destination wedding, we planned events for the week. We got married on a Friday evening for guests that had rented Saturday to Saturday. We had a weekend full of events such as a shrimp boil one evening, a morning bocce ball tournament and a farewell brunch. This gave Heath and I a chance to hang out and talk with all of our guests before the wedding. When we got to our wedding day, we were able to enjoy the reception and dance with our friends instead of walking around talking to everyone and thanking them for being there since we had already had that opportunity prior to the reception.
What advice would you give to brides planning a wedding right now?
Planning the wedding was stressful in the sense that I have the personality that wants to please everyone. I don’t like anyone to be upset with me. I think that I was stressed out trying to make sure all the families were happy and trying to give everyone what they wanted. I think the sooner you learn as long as you and your soon-to-be husband are happy then everyone else will learn to be happy with your decision as well
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What was your favorite part of the ceremony?
Our favorite part of the ceremony was our vows. We each wrote them and didn’t share them with each other until the ceremony. That was something for us to look forward to. We each put a lot of time into writing them and I was dying to hear what he was going to say. It also made the ceremony that much more special and more “customized” to us as a couple.
What was your favorite part of the reception?
Our favorite thing about the reception was that it felt more like a party than the typical wedding reception. We had a blast dancing the night away with our friends and eating great food and great cake. We have had several people tell us how much fun they had. I think we were all bummed when the night had to end. No one left early; it was more like they had to make us leave.
What was your husband’s favorite wedding detail?
Heath’s favorite part of the wedding was both the ceremony and the reception. He loved being able to have his friends and family watch as we got married and shared our personal vows to each other. He loved the dancing with all of our friends at the reception as we had a lot of our high school friends travel down for the wedding and allowed us to spend time with everyone.
What did you find to be the most difficult party of wedding planning?
For me the most difficult part was the guest list. Our reception site would only hold 220 people. Our parents’ guests lists were huge and I felt terrible having them continuously cutting their lists down. It took a while to get a finalized list that everyone was happy with.
What has been your favorite thing about being married?
My favorite thing about being married is truly getting to do every day with your best friend. Those date nights you look forward to while you’re dating and engaged are now an every night occasion. Heath and I continue to grow closer daily and we never stop pursuing each other. Two years after our wedding he still does sweet things just because. I find random love notes around the house, he will send me flowers at work just because, he plans date nights for us and I love our nightly walks when it’s warm outside and we can talk about our days. I have never been so close to a person in my life, Heath truly knows my heart, he knows what I am thinking before I even say anything. We do devotions and pray together every night, which has grown my spiritual life immensely. The more time that goes on, the better married life gets. Now we have a little girl and we couldn’t be more excited. We are looking forward to this new chapter in our lives, learning to be the parents God has called us to be.
What has been the hardest part about marriage?
I wouldn’t say that marriage has been hard, but I think our biggest struggles were in the first six months. We were learning not only how to be husband and wife and love each other well, but to be roommates. I had to learn Heath’s quirks and he had to learn mine. We also had to figure out how much was okay to spend on groceries and when we needed to ask each other before buying things. I think the more we got to know each other as roommates and what we expected of each other everything else came easy. I think we would also agree that the holidays are really hard because we try and do everything instead of rotating every year between three families.
When asked if there was anything else she wanted to share with brides to be Kelsey had this to say:
"I think that something Heath and I have noticed that makes our marriage better is that neither of us likes to argue. If we ever disagree on something we are both quick to apologize and fix it. We don’t like conflict and we never go to sleep angry with each other. I think that pursuing the Lord daily and refusing to let anger come between us has been a key component in making our marriage that much better."
Thank you Kelsey and Heath for sharing
your story and being a part of Just be.