Story by Shelbi LeMeilleur Photos by Tisha Traeger Photography
On May 12, 2018, Tori Appelt walked arm-in-arm with her father down the winding path towards the altar at Brownstone Reserve where her soon-to-be-husband, Dan Williams, was waiting. It couldn’t have been a more perfect day for the couple to join as one.
Tori and Dan met on the job. Tori works in the Emergency Room at CHI St. Joseph; Dan is a firefighter and paramedic for the Bryan Fire Department. Dan would often be on the ambulance when patients were brought into the ER, and their frequent meetings eventually led to the two dating.
“He was just really intelligent, and we just hit it off,” explains Tori. “We clicked like no one I’ve ever clicked with before.”
While they were dating, Dan planned a mystery trip for Tori. The only thing she knew was that it would be somewhere tropical. Waiting in the terminal at the airport, Dan revealed the surprise destination: Puerto Rico. However, Tori had no idea there would be more surprises in store.
“First day, plans kind of got foiled because it rained a little bit,” says Tori. The second day, Dan and Tori rented a sailboat that went around San Juan Bay. “There was another lady on the sailboat too, which I thought worked out pretty well because the sailboat driver could drive the sailboat and she could take pictures. So [Dan] handed her his phone and said, ‘Oh, can you get a picture of us with the fort in the background?’ She took one, started to hand it back to us, and then he says, ‘Oh, can you get one more?’ He got down on one knee and said, ‘Would you make this trip complete and would you marry me?’”
Through tears of joy, Tori said yes. Once the couple was stateside again, wedding planning began quickly.
“Everything was really fast-paced because I was in [nursing] school,” she says. “We got engaged in August and I started [school] a week later, so I wanted to get a lot done before things got in full swing with tests and clinicals, so it was expedited.”
Before they could start choosing vendors, Tori and Dan had to decide if they would get married in College Station or Tori’s hometown, Hallettsville. Ultimately, they decided it would be easier to have the wedding in College Station, and they chose Brownstone Reserve as their venue.
“Everything was there,” she says of their reasoning behind picking Brownstone. “The set-up with the ceremony site; you could get ready, they had the bridal suite and the groom suite. Just everything being in one place was perfect. ... It was beautiful and decorated just by itself.”
Little by little, Dan and Tori started choosing their other vendors. “Being from a small town, I felt more comfortable going with people I knew personally and could kind of trust a little more,” says Tori. They found vendors through people they knew at church, work, and through friends. The couple also utilized the help of a day-of coordinator, which allowed the bride, groom, bridal party, and family a bit more time to relax on the day of the wedding.
Tori and Dan added some personal touches to their ceremony by writing their own vows. “He did a really good job writing them,” she says. “I had worked really hard writing mine, trying to hit all aspects of marriage and things I wanted to promise to him.”
Tori had another surprise set of vows that incorporated Dan’s two daughters, Grace and MaKaya, into the ceremony. “Nobody knew about this, but I had a couple little vows to the girls,” she says. “That took him by surprise and then they were crying, so that was just a really nice moment.”
At the end of the day, Tori really focused on just enjoying the day and not getting caught up in the little details. She gives future brides the same advice. “Just don’t sweat the small stuff, only you’ll know about it,” she says. “Enjoy your day. If you can, take a step back and just take it all in, because it flies by.”
Williams Vendors Venue Brownstone Reserve Caterer C&J’s Barbecue Photographer Tisha Traeger Photography Cake Bretnie Brantley Flowers Letha Solether DJ Frito from Candy 95 Hair & Makeup Pretty Vintage & Co Day-of Coordinator Janine Smajstrla
