Julia & Joe in Birmingham, AL

Over the holiday break during her sophomore year at Samford University, Julia Kelley met Joe Denson and soon developed a crush. So when the two ended up in the same sociology class the next semester, sitting only one row away from each other, Julia was pleasantly surprised. The following summer, Joe asked Julia out for their first date. The Bride Julia Elizabeth Kelley, 23, sales associate The Groom Joe Larkin Denson, 24, CPA The Date April 22 Two years after they had been dating, Julia went away for the summer while Joe was finishing graduate school. It was Fourth of July weekend and just as Julia was preparing to go to dinner with her parents, one of Joe’s friends stopped by and told Julia to walk down to the beach alone. “I was a little skeptical, but I still didn’t expect what was about to happen,” Julia says. As she was walking, she noticed Joe. “He told me he had come to surprise me,” Julia says, “I thought he had driven there to take me on a date.” Joe then dropped to one knee, pulled out a ring, and asked Julia to be his wife. “Of course I said ‘yes,’” Julia says. “I felt like I was in a fairy tale.”