Chesson Parker, John Merritt marry
Chesson Moran Parker of Irmo and John Patrick Merritt of Lexington were united in marriage July 30 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Columbia. The Rev. Carl R. Yost of Savannah, Georgia, officiated the 6 p.m. ceremony.
The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. Michael Parker of Irmo. She is the granddaughter of Mrs. Anne M. Addy and the late Mr. Lindsey Addy of Lexington and the late Mrs. Susie Parker, Mrs. Lois Parker, and Mr. Simpson Parker, all of Charleston. A graduate of Clemson University, she is employed with RR Donnelley.
The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. John B. Merritt of Lexington. He is the grandson of Mrs. Alice F. Riley and the late Mr. LeRoy Riley of Lexington and the late Mr. and Mrs. John B. Merrit Sr. of Whiteville, North Carolina. A graduate of University of South Carolina, he is employed with JB Merritt & Associates.
The bride was escorted by her father and given in marriage by her parents. Music was provided by organist Nickie Riley, trumpeter Tim Riley and cellist Matthew Riley.
Maids of honor were Eliza Catherine Payne and Rebecca Lee Payne. Bridesmaids were Abby Claire Daniel, Ashley Clubb Eckenbrecht, Laurel Brown Gunzenhauser, Amy Kristen Merritt and Lindsey Michelle Owens.
Best men were John Bert Merritt and Michael Andrew Merritt. Groomsmen were Andrew Reuben Carter, Travis Maxwell Frawley, Christopher Hamilton Harmon, Benjamin Michael Parker, John Clinton Shell and Jacob Russell Yost.
A reception followed at The Hall at Senate’s End.
The couple will reside in West Columbia.
In her own words
Q. How did you meet?
A. Despite having many of the same friends, despite our parents knowing one another, and despite attending many of the same weddings and events over the years, my fiance and I did not meet until August 15, 2009 when we were both in college (he was at USC and I was attending Clemson). He and I met while we were attending a mutual friend’s wedding at our childhood church in Lexington. I noticed him dancing up a storm with everyone at the reception and asked my dad to quickly teach me how to shag dance so that on the off chance that the cute boy asked me to dance, I would be ready. My fiance’s friends were encouraging him through the evening to go over and ask me to dance. He finally asked me to dance, we shag danced to one song, and then went our separate ways. We met up at the end of the night after the sparkler send-off and exchanged numbers in the parking lot. After many phone calls, a boat day out on Lake Murray, and a trip up to Clemson for the first football game of the season, we were officially dating!
Q. Tell us about the proposal.
A. My fiance, our families, and a few of our friends devised a sneaky plan to get me to one of my favorite locations in all of Columbia: Riverbanks Zoo. It was the day of my fiance’s 30th birthday party, and we had spent the entire day preparing for and setting up for the party at his friend’s house. Shortly before the party was due to start, my brother called and asked me to swing by the botanical garden entrance of the zoo to pick him up where he had been visiting with friends. We quickly drove over to the zoo to get him, but when we arrived, my fiance insisted that I get out of the car and walk inside the gardens to find him. I was annoyed but let it go so that we could get in there, find him, and get back to the party quickly. While we were talking through the gardens “looking for my brother”, my fiance stopped me to let me know that we weren’t there to find my brother. He dropped down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
Knowing how important it was to me, he had a photographer friend of ours hidden in the garden taking pictures of the proposal, too! We headed back to my fiance’s 30th birthday party to surprise everyone with our engagement news – only to find that the birthday party had been transformed into a surprise engagement party.
Q. What are you most looking forward to about the wedding day?
A. We are most looking forward to celebrating our much anticipated (after six years of dating and a year long engagement) marriage with all of our family and friends. Because we met while dancing at a wedding reception, we are also looking forward to dancing the night away at our own reception.
Q. How did you choose the church where you will be married?
A. We fell in love with St. Paul’s Lutheran a few years ago and knew it had to be the place we joined when I finally moved to Columbia in 2015. Getting married in our home church was very important to both of us.