Anna Catherine Thornley & Andrew Miller

March 14, 2020

Both fans of Gold’s Gym, Anna Catherine and Andrew first met in the co-ed sauna, little knowing their unusual encounter would lead to happily-ever-after. Three years of dating later, Andrew knew he would have to pull off a real surprise if he was going to get AC’s authentic reaction to his proposal. He concocted a ruse, telling AC he had won “Employee of the Month”—proven with emails from his boss who was in on the scheme—and that this accolade meant he would also receive a free night’s stay at the Westin Poinsett. An unsuspecting AC arrived at the hotel bar, where Andrew ushered her up onto the roof of the Westin. There sat a table of Champagne, and against the backdrop of Greenville he asked for her hand in marriage. While many weddings in 2020 have suffered some sort of alteration, for Anna Catherine and Andrew, March 14th, the day before the COVID-19 shutdowns, was their day of hope leading into this uncharted moment in history. On the day of the wedding at Wingate Place, a custom-designed watercolor family crest adorned the programs, and AC wore a ring her mother had given her when she was born. As the bride walked through flower-festooned iron gates to meet Andrew at the top of the aisle, they both relished one final day of normalcy before the pandemic turned life upside-down.