Joy and Edgar’s wedding was small but perfect. Only the bride, groom and their five boys attended: Joy’s sons, Hayden and Hudson, as well as Edgar’s sons, Justin, Aidan and Dylan.
“We wanted to make sure the boys knew that they were our number one priority and that we wanted them involved wholly in our special day,” Joy says.
“It wasn’t about Edgar and I getting married; it was joining our family together and to show each of our sons that they were a part of our love and would never be left behind.”
Since none of the boys were old enough to sign the marriage license, the couple’s photographer, Kim Martin, was the wedding’s witness.
Joy and her sons live in Woodstock, Georgia, while Edgar and his sons live in Lincoln. “We have a bi-coastal marriage and see each other every [few] weeks,” says Joy, who met Edgar when they were both working for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. “It works for us, but not for all couples.”
After a four-year engagement, Joy and Edgar married in a ceremony in the Villa Courtyard at Arden Hills. Edgar describes seeing Joy at the wedding as “surreal.” He explains, “My heart leapt out of my chest and tears to my eyes. Joy is an incredible woman; she is so beautiful and smart, [and] an amazing friend. I felt like the luckiest man in the world that she chose me!”
The intimate wedding was a lot of fun. “It was not a scripted wedding, as evidenced by the boys’ decision to throw rose petals as we kissed,” Edgar says. In other memorable moments, Joy’s son, Hayden, got his mother’s ring stuck on his finger, which only came off after Edgar spit on it; everyone danced to “Sweet Home Alabama,” the song the couple danced to when they first met; and after the I Do’s, the family celebrated with a toast. “Edgar and I had Champagne and the boys had sparkling apple cider. They loved it!” says Joy, noting Edgar’s son, Justin, even chugged the cider straight from the bottle.
The family went out for dinner after the wedding and enjoyed a two-tiered cake from Ettore’s European Bakery, featuring a top tier of princess torte (sponge cake and strawberry preserves) and a chocolate truffle (sour cream chocolate) bottom tier.
Joy stresses the importance of making the wedding about the bride and groom. “Make the full experience about you and your husband,” she says. “Don’t worry about your family or his family. This is your day. Do what makes you happy, not what makes everyone else happy.”
Despite long-distance planning stress, Joy felt complete on the wedding day. “Everything seemed to all fit into place and what I had been searching for my entire life,” she says.
—Kristen Castillo
