Hello there
In early 2008, Lizzie, a native of Flourtown, moved to San Diego and started studying - and studying - at California Western School of Law.
Early one February morning, Lizzie hit Robeks Fruit Smoothies & Healthy Eats before her 8 a.m. class. It wasn't her first time there, but something was decidedly different. Something - someone - with big, blue eyes. Braxton, she later told her visiting sister Sarah, was "the cutest boy ever!"
Lizzie's law books left her little time for boys. But she had to have something for breakfast! From that day on, it was always a Guava Lava smoothie.
The stellar smile Braxton always gave Lizzie made her think he might have noticed her in the same, fluttery-stomach way she noticed him, but he seemed a little shy. So even though he knew her name - the store writes customers' names on their cups - she introduced herself. He told her his name was Braxton - Braxton Bray. "Cool name!" Lizzie said.
They graduated from smiles to small talk. Then, three months after they first laid eyes on each other, they began having actual conversations. Lizzie studied for finals with a smoothie, and Braxton joined her at her table on his breaks.
Lizzie told Braxton about her law studies and her Philly roots. And she learned that Braxton, who grew up outside Kansas City, Kan., had recently been discharged from the Navy, where he was a hospital corpsman at Naval Medical Center San Diego. The Navy wanted to hire Braxton as a civilian, but it would take six months of paperwork and processing. Hence the smoothie-making.
After finals, Lizzie took a five-day trip home before returning to California to start summer classes. Before she left, she gave Braxton her phone number.
The day she returned to California, Braxton sent her a text. Lizzie invited him to bring a friend over to watch movies and have a beer with her and one of her friends.
The smoothie-free conversation went just as smoothly. When Lizzie went to the kitchen to get more drinks for her guests, Braxton followed her in for a kiss.
Soon after, the paperwork cleared, and Braxton became an anesthesiologist technician at the Naval hospital. But he continues to make smoothies for Lizzie.
How does forever sound?
In summer 2009, the couple began looking at rings. In early fall, Braxton, who is now 25, told Lizzie, now 26, that he wanted to take her to a fancy seafood restaurant that was offering a restaurant week special. She should dress up, he said. Lizzie, a law clerk, had the day off, so she thought she'd get some laundry done first. In Braxton's pocket, she found a receipt for a ring.
She called a friend for advice. Lizzie decided to pretend she saw nothing. (Braxton found out during the interview for this column.)
Braxton wrote Lizzie a love letter that ended with a proposal. He planned to slip the paper into Lizzie's menu at Jake's. But the special meal had no menu.
After dinner, he suggested a walk on the beach. Braxton hugged and kissed his girlfriend. "You know I love you so much?" he asked. "Yeaahhhhh," Lizzie said.
"You make me so much better, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you," he told her, and brought out the ring.
Lizzie started crying, but did not say yes until Braxton got down on one knee.
The letter he wrote hangs framed in their home in San Diego's Hillcrest neighborhood.
It was so them
Lizzie's mother, Andi, is Catholic. Her father, Bruce, is Jewish. She was raised a Quaker. Braxton was raised Methodist, like his father, Burt, and stepmother, Patricia. The couple chose to have an ecumenical ceremony.
They were married by retired Rabbi Vivian Schirn at the Brossman Center's chapel, on the campus of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Chestnut Hill.
Braxton's son, Lucas, 3, was the ring bearer.
Andi and Braxton's mother, Kelly, lit two candles to symbolize the two families. Lizzie and Braxton used them to light a third candle representing the joining of two families. Lizzie and Braxton had also planned to drink wine from the same cup, to symbolize their newly combined lives. They forgot the wine, but pretended to sip from the cup anyway.
Lizzie honored her late Nana, Elizabeth - a pianist and singer who performed around Philadelphia and New York from the 1950s through the 1980s - with her choice of shoes, which were covered with crystals and feathers.
Late one night during the wedding planning, Lizzie sent an e-mail to Robeks, the smoothie place, describing how she met Braxton and thanking them for their part in the couple's happiness. The company sent the couple a bunch of travel mugs for wedding favors. And they hooked Lizzie up with the company's graphic designer, who created table name cards, each with the name of a different smoothie.
During the reception, a photo booth yielded fridge magnets for their 110 guests and a guest book for the couple. Instead of a sit-down dinner or buffet, roving servers served tapas all night long and guests helped themselves at a pasta bar. The wine came from Chadds Ford Winery, and the beer was Yuengling.
This didn't happen at rehearsal
When it was time to get ready, Braxton realized he had his vest and tie, but no tux. He needed someone to drive from Chestnut Hill to Lizzie's parents' home in Flourtown and back, quickly. "Who drives the fastest?" Braxton asked. That would be Lizzie's brother, Sam. Groomsman Nick lent him his Kia Spectra.
No one wanted the bride to panic, so they didn't tell her. For 35 minutes, she was assured that Braxton would be there any minute. "Are you OK?" she asked when she saw him. "Oh yeah," he said. "Everything is fine now."
Braxton confessed there would be no pictures of him getting ready.
Awestruck
Wedding guests lined both sides of the path from ceremony to reception, and filled the air with soap bubbles. The bubble tunnel made seeing friends and family from all over the country even more surreal and wonderful, the couple said.
Discretionary spending
A bargain: The couple chose Zake's Cakes in Fort Washington, and stuck with that choice even when told the bakery hadn't made a square wedding cake before. Shortly before the wedding, Zake's called with an offer: Have your photographer take photos of the cake that we can show to future brides, and the cake is free.
The splurge: The couple was only considering photographers in their price range until someone suggested Rebecca Barger. "I looked at Rebecca's work, and I fell in love with her pictures," Lizzie said.
The getaway
In addition to working full time, Braxton is studying to become a certified registered nurse anesthetist. Lizzie, who recently finished law school, is studying to take the bar exam in February. After that, the couple plan to spend time on some Caribbean island, where no thinking is required.
Behind the Scenes
Officiant
Rabbi Vivian Schirn, retired, Wynnewood
Venue
The Brossman Center, with help from hospitality coordinator Rita Faison, Philadelphia
Catering
Bruno's, Philadelphia
Music
Circle of Sound Disc Jockeys, Philadelphia
Photographer
Rebecca Barger, Rebecca Barger Photography, Jenkintown
Videographer
The Artist Group, Long Beach Island
Dress
Brides By Demetrios, San Diego
Flowers
Coupe Flowers, Erdenheim
Invitations
By the bride and her friend Kelli Wood, who is a graphic designer from San Diego
Day-of coordinator
Family friend Deb Lobel of Manayunk, who is the director of productions at the Mann Music Center
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