Story by Rachel Knight Photos by Kristina Ross Photography
Some love stories start slow, others kick off with a bang. The day Stephanie Sechrist and Jordan Ross met, sparks were flying, literally. While at a mutual friend’s Fourth of July lake party, Stephanie asked Jordan for a sip of his drink. The two spent the remainder of the evening together as their love story set sail.
Neither can pinpoint exactly when they knew the other was “the one,” but after two years of dating, Jordan surprised Stephanie and popped the question. Surprising Stephanie was a challenge that required a little help from her mom. “My diamond is actually an heirloom diamond,” Stephanie explains.
After getting a new ring for Stephanie’s mom, her dad had the diamond from her mom’s original ring made into a necklace. Her mom wore the diamond necklace before Stephanie got engaged, and Stephanie admits to looking for the necklace around her mother’s neck frequently to gauge when Jordan might propose. Knowing this, Stephanie’s mom told Jordan to have a fake diamond put into the necklace to pull off a surprise proposal.
“I remember asking the jeweler, ‘Would it offend you if I ask if you have fake diamonds laying around?’” Jordan recalls. “He was like, ‘Why?’ so I explained it to him and he was like, ‘Oh yeah. I can do that. Five minutes.’”
Five days before Jordan got down on one knee, the couple met with both sets of their parents for dinner. Jordan and Stephanie were taking a trip to Stephanie’s favorite place, her family’s land in Quihi, that weekend. She suspected Jordan would pop the question during the trip. Knowing there was not enough time to have the diamond set into a new ring before they left, Stephanie anxiously waited to see if her mom wore the necklace to dinner. “I showed up and she was wearing the stupid necklace,” Stephanie remembers. When they went for a walk in Quihi that weekend, Stephanie was genuinely surprised to see Jordan holding a ring asking for her hand in marriage.
After a seven-month engagement, Stephanie and Jordan were ready to tie the knot. Leading up to the wedding, the couple says they tried to stay organized. They both agreed their most important wedding day preparation was pre-marital counseling with their pastor. “The wedding is super fun, but you’re starting a marriage,” Stephanie says.
Other wedding day preparations incorporated the couple’s entire family. Stephanie wanted to use wine bottles in their centerpieces, so the couple asked their Aggie families to save some from their tailgates. “We were probably expecting it to take four or five months,” Jordan says. “By the next football game we announced we had them all,” Stephanie adds. “It was fun because then everybody came to the wedding, like, ‘Is that my wine bottle?’”
While their families enjoyed looking for wine bottles they contributed, Stephanie and Jordan shared excitement in seeing each other as Stephanie came down the aisle.
“She looked gorgeous,” Jordan explains. “That’s a moment you anticipate and it’s a moment that’s better than you think it would be. … I saw her and immediately started tearing up.”
On the other end of the aisle, Stephanie was walking hurriedly in her custom Nikes with her dad. “Me and my dad were around the corner when the music started playing and I don’t know why, but I felt like we were super late but we weren’t,” she explains. “I felt kind of rushed coming in the doors, so when we were done laughing about it, because my dad was like, ‘Stop freaking out,’ I turned and I saw [Jordan] and was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ I just have this image of him being so happy to see me and crying.”
The remainder of the ceremony was a celebration of the couple’s love and the role Christ’s love plays in their marriage. Stephanie’s uncle sang two gospel songs, scriptures were read, and the two became one spiritually.
After the ceremony, the couple celebrated the start of their marriage with a reception at Traditions Club. Stephanie describes their décor as winery with a hint of rustic. Students in the floral design program at the high school where Stephanie works did their floral arrangements — which added a more personal touch to the day.
As a dance coach and a personal trainer, respectively, Stephanie and Jordan wanted a lot of dancing at their reception. They credit their DJ to helping achieve that goal. The couple shared a first dance; sang the Aggie War Hymn with their Aggie guests, then followed it with a special dance from Stephanie and her friends on the Aggie Dance Team; had an impromptu limbo line using glow stick necklaces; and incorporated a choreographed dance from Stephanie and her dad.
After dancing the night away, the couple headed out to start their journey as a married couple. They say married life is even better than expected. “Honestly, it just feels really natural,” Stephanie shares. “Married life is awesome.”
Ross Vendors
- Rehearsal Dinner Cafe Eccell
- Ceremony Christ United Methodist Church
- Reception, Food & Alcohol The Traditions Club
- Cakes Cakes by Blondie
- DJ Downtown Event Services
- Dress Wtoo Gwendolyn by Watters
- Hair and Makeup Blush n Glow Co.
- Photography Kristina Ross Photography
- Coordinators Tara and Haley at Traditions
- Florist Rebecca Luna & the A&M Consolidated High School Floral Design Program
- Jeweler The Jewelry Store in Bryan
