REAL-WEDDINGS

Real Columbus Wedding: Lucinete and Anthony Tanner’s Unlikely Fairy Tale

A chance meeting at a Columbus gas station culminated with a surprise proposal at Tiffany & Co. in New York City.

Columbus Monthly

Lucinete (Lucy) and Anthony (Tony) Tanner walk down the aisle after their wedding ceremony.

Who: Lucinete (Lucy) and Anthony (Tony) Tanner

When: Aug. 6, 2022

The story: “We truly believe it was fate and a higher power that brought us together,” Lucy says of her and Tony’s initial meeting. “We didn’t speak or understand each other’s languages—we came from very different backgrounds and cultures, and neither of us were looking for a relationship.” They met at the most random of places: a Columbus gas station. Lucy was there with her friend trying to figure out how to fill her car up with gas (there is no self-service in Brazil, where she’s from), as she had not been in the states that long and was getting accustomed to the American way of life. “A man [Tony] at the next gas pump saw us struggling and offered to help,” Lucy says. “He filled my friend’s tank and gave me his contact information in case we ever needed help or had questions.”

They began texting one another, and over time, became friends talking about personal interests, travel, spiritual items, nature “and just about everything.” It wasn’t until a year later that the two decided to meet again in person. “When we saw each other again, the connection was quite clear that this was much more than we had initially anticipated,” Lucy says. “We were falling in love.”

The proposal: If that wasn’t enough to make you gush, their proposal story is another level of romantic. Since she was a little girl, Lucy had two dreams—visiting New York City and having a wedding ring from Tiffany’s. A day before her birthday, Tony took Lucy to NYC for a week-long birthday celebration. “With Tiffany’s flagship store there, we thought it would be great to visit the store and have a look at the rings there,” Tony says. Unknown to Lucy, Tony had gone to Tiffany’s earlier that day to purchase the ring, planning with the management team to use their “Blue Room” to propose to her. “She was so surprised!” Tony says of the proposal. “The store attendant captured it all on video and it is a memory we will cherish forever.”

The wedding: “The ceremony began with the Columbus Musicians playing ‘Canon in D,’ to which I walked my mother down the aisle and sat her in the first row,” Tony says. “This was an important song and event for me because I would be sharing the aisle that day with the two most important women in my life, my mother and my future wife.” Tony notes “Canon in D” is his favorite classical song, acting as his “go-to” when things get chaotic, grounding him “in the peace, beauty, and love of life.”

From there, the musicians masterfully blended “Amazing Grace” as the next song, a song which was especially important to Lucy as she had always dreamed of playing it on her wedding day.

The couple held a traditional wedding, a loving mix of Brazilian and American culture at the Columbus Musuem of Art. For guest favors, the bride and groom provided boxes containing an assortment of hand-made Brazilian desserts including Bem Casados, Brazilian wedding cookies that are given to guests to bless them with good fortune and happiness. Their honeymoon was spent at a resort in Oahu, Hawaii.

VENDORS

Photographer: Storyteller Adams / Ben Adams

Wedding planner: MMJ Events/Meleka Jolliff

Ceremony: Columbus Museum of Art (Derby Court)

Reception: Columbus Museum of Art (Pavillion)

Florist: Evergreen Flower Co.

Rentals: Aiden & Grace Specialty Rentals, BBJ Linens, Event Source, All Occasions

Invitations: Inkandivory/Kaitlin Sockman

Caterer: Cameron Mitchell Premier Events

Cake & desserts: Capital City Cakes

Ceremony music: Columbus Musicians LLC

Cocktail hour & reception music: Josh Staley Productions