LOVE STORY: EVANS AND

May 16, 2020, marked the last date night Evans Tedford would have with his girlfriend, Lauren Taylor, for a while — so he made it count.

He treated Lauren, whom he’d been dating since 2016, to an unforgettable steak dinner at home. The pair met when they both worked as restaurant managers at the Beau Rivage, and on weekends, they took turns making dinner for each other. On this particular Saturday, it was Evans’s turn.

With the Beau set to reopen soon, he faced 70-plushour weeks for the foreseeable future. Intimate meals together were about to become rare, so Evans dialed up the romance with Lauren’s favorite champagne and a lifechanging surprise.

As Lauren sat on their back patio, Evans brought her a drink menu featuring custom cocktails named after them and their two bulldogs, Ellie and Lucy.

“The last cocktail on the menu was named ‘An Orange Label Toast to Us,’ and the description said, ‘A toast of Lauren’s favorite to celebrate getting engaged,” Lauren recalls. “When I looked up, he was down on one knee, and our bulldogs were in bowties!”

The sweet gesture was the culmination of a relationship that began platonically but blossomed into love.

“We are truly best friends,” Lauren says. “We became best friends before we ever started dating, and I think it is pretty evident to those around us that we just compliment and complete each other.”

Once they were engaged, the couple knew they wanted to be married by the end of the year. They’d originally planned to elope somewhere tropical, Lauren says, but due to the pandemic, “there were too many everchanging travel restrictions to plan anything of the sort.” They opted instead for a wedding on Nov. 13 at Belle Fontaine Beach in Ocean Springs, with a happilyever-after celebration at The Sandhill Beachhouse the following day.

The couple created a “coastal romantic” vibe for their wedding with a beachside setting, a sunset backdrop and the bride’s lace dress.

“Luckily, with us both being in hospitality and being extreme planners, I think we had everything planned within a month,” Lauren says. “It was more important to us to have a stress-free wedding day, and then have our family and friends join us the next day for a fun celebration.”

For the bride, the most special moment of her wedding day was hearing the vows her groom had written for her. For Evans, she thinks the highlight was the personalized video she sent him of New Orleans Saints defensive end Cam Jordan offering both real and comical martial advice.

Even their bulldogs were represented in a pair of

custom socks designed for the occasion that bore their faces.

Today, Evans is director of food and beverage at the Beau Rivage, and Lauren is the catering sales manager for Levy Restaurants at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center. They are settled in St. Martin and eagerly awaiting their first child, who is due in February.

In the meantime, the newlyweds are enjoying their just-married bliss.

“Evans is the most supportive partner I could ever imagine,” Lauren says. “He has always supported me in everything I do … .”

VENDORS Ceremony venue: Belle Fontaine Beach Reception venue: The Sandhill Beach House Officiant: Kieren Rouse Wedding gown: David’s Bridal Tux/Groom’s clothing: Express Photographer: Justin Daniels, Southern Wedding Pixels Caterer: Beau Rivage Cake/Desserts: Ceremony cake, Beau Rivage; groom’s cake (Baby Yoda in Saints uniform), Sucre de Fleurs; reception cake (three-tier cheesecake), Grace Wade Florist: Beau Rivage Invitations: Zazzle Hair: The Jacq of all Trades Beauty, Jacqueline Reynolds Makeup:The Jacq of all Trades Beauty, Jacqueline Reynolds Jewelry/accessories: Etsy Event rentals: Photos 2 Go Photo Booth, Gulfport