I am not a morning person at all. My mom claims that I was born into this world to sleep. It was my life calling. That being said, I wasn’t exactly thrilled when Britney & Jon planned their engagement shoot for a Thursday morning at 8:30. I woke up, put a smile on, & got to work. By the end of the shoot, they had convinced me that morning shoots are 100% awesome. And, I’m not just saying that. Maybe it was just them being so crazy about each other, or Mugwalls had put something in my coffee. I don’t know. It was just an amazing morning.

I met Britney & Jon at Impact this past summer. Britney was on exec staff & Jon was on crew. Britney is super chill & laid back, while Jon is secretly hilarious, although it’s not really a secret once you’ve been around him for a few minutes. I took a gander at their wedding website, & HAD to share their ‘How We Met’ with you.

From Jon: Britney & I first met through a Christian student organization called Impact. We were partners in a camp & spent almost a year getting to know each other in this way. Through my devastatingly good looks & charm I wooed Britney during our partnership, but this was unbeknownst to me. I was blissfully ignorant (as guys can be) of her affections for me. In fact I didn’t have my first heart throbbing moment for Britney until 2 days before our camp’s retreat. I noticed her out of the corner of my eye, & thought “Woah baby!” It’s the moment I refer to as when God opened my eyes to her. Although, it truly was Britney’s heart that first attracted mine to hers.

Weeks after camp had ended, we were still hanging out. It became quickly apparent that something was going on as more than friends. As courageous as Britney is she even called me out on this. Two days later we were sitting in the Mugwalls “DTR Chair” where I asked her on our first date. Our first date consisted of me picking her up at 5pm to make senior citizen hour at the illustrious Luby’s, followed by duck catching at Central Park, & ending with tiramisu & coffee at Luigi’s. After several dates & much prayer it came down to defining the relationship again. “Would she become the luckiest woman in the world, and have me as her man?” I thought. I was certain I had this in the bag, there was no way she was going to reject me now, especially after taking her to a place like Luby’s.

So one night I take her to a bench in Academic Plaza (a courtyard on A&M’s campus) where I tell her “Britney, after much prayer, I want to tell you I really like you and I wanted to know if you would be my girlfriend?” Coolly & calmly she responds with, “Well, let me think about it some more… In fact, I have about five questions to ask you before I become your girlfriend.” That was my first ever interview to become a boyfriend. Apparently, I answered well, because now we’re getting married. I would say it was then I knew I had made the right decision by asking this girl to be my girlfriend. She had her heart well guarded & wasn’t going to let just any boy in easily. That was hott! Men just like challenges like that. God has been gracious to lead us this far, & it’s his grace we will be depending on to continue. I’ve been blessed to be able to know a woman as wonderful as Britney both as my friend and soon as my wife.

From Britney: I showed up on cold November evening in Research Park to meet the other college students selected as leaders in the student organization Impact. I couldn’t really see many of them because our only light was coming from the streetlights along the road, but I learned a few names I wouldn’t remember until much later—one of those names was Jon Kilbourn.

Even though we met that night, I didn’t really get to know Jon until about month later. We found out we would be partners for the next nine months, so we sat around for a few hours asking questions about our interests and families. But before that even happened, Jon prophesied our impending marriage in an anonymous partner letter. He informed me in the letter that 33% of partners end up getting married; & since he had already had two & nothing had materialized from those, the odds were in our favor. Let’s just say, after knowing Jon for a few months, I hoped he was right.

We got to know each other as we led our camp Omega Reuben. Some of my favorite memories were our Wednesday morning breakfast meetings to catch up & talk about what we needed to do that week. One of the things I admired about Jon was that he was such a godly man. It was clear that his leadership came from his love for the Lord & his desire to know him better.

Our friendship & my affection for him grew strong over the next several months. As our partnership drew to a close, we both reflected on how we had loved being co-chairs together. Although I was unsure whether Jon felt anything for me, I was happy to be considered his friend & partner, & to have shared the experience with him. Our camp did a wonderful job serving the incoming freshmen in the summer & we knew it was all because of the Lord’s grace. We were surprised how well things turned out & how well we had worked together over the past 9 months. Soon rumors started flying around, especially among the other girls on leadership about Jon & me. Much to my relief, about a month after our partnership ended Jon asked me on a date. By the Lord’s grace, He’s brought us to this exciting time.

Ok, let’s all say “Awwwwwww!” together!

After some reading time, it was time for some yoga! Cobra pose!

Oh, morning sun, you are glorious!

I had THE HARDEST TIME narrowing down my favorite photos from the day.

Jon brought along his iPod & speakers so we could play some music, which turned out to be such a great thing. Every time we got to a new location, he’d stop & find the right playlist to help ‘set the mood.’

As mentioned before, Jon asked Britney out on their first date in the famous DTR chair (determine/define the relationship), as well as had several defining conversations in this chair. It was only fitting that we borrowed the chair for a few hours & take it to a magical location.

“Would it be cheesy to do a proposal photo?” No, Jon, not at all. Just put the ring in your mouth & the cheesy factor has gone out the window.

To read the proposal story, go to their wedding website. It’s one of the sweetest stories I’ve ever heard.

We headed back to Mugwalls to return the chair & grab a cup of coffee. Note the red pillow Britney is leaning on. That was their camp ‘flag’ the summer they were partners. Coincidence that it was a giant red heart? I think not.

Their camp shirt.