Maddie and John in the Phoebe Gown

Let's take it back 11 years. Maddie and John were high school students, navigating crowded halls and stolen glances. At a friend's party, Maddie spotted John across the room and in that moment, she knew there was something different about him. On their first date, she felt it again, John's presence was unlike anyone else's. As they strolled near the restaurant, he offered a drink to the trumpet player just around the corner - a small gesture, but one that left Maddie quietly impressed. In that instant, she sensed this was the beginning of something truly special. 

Fast forward 11 years. Maddie had quietly wondered if a proposal might be on the horizon—and she was right. John suggested a walk along the Mississippi River, the very spot they had visited as teenagers, a place that had remained untouched by time. Beneath the golden light of the late afternoon, where they had shared their very first kiss over a decade ago, John knelt on one knee, and in that moment, the world seemed to stand still—just the two of them, and the love that had grown quietly, beautifully, over the years. 

Maddie and John celebrated their love on a sunlit day in Sitges, Spain, surrounded by 30 of their closest family and friends. Amid the laughter and joy, they managed to steal an hour away from the villa to wander along the beach, a quiet moment just for the two of them. The scene—the shimmering waves, the soft golden light—reminded Maddie of her favourite artist, Joaquín Sorolla, and for a fleeting hour, it felt as if they had stepped into a painting.