WED D I NGS
Gibson & Phillips BY BROOKE SPAC H PHOTOGRAP HY BY T HA I S F ER R EI R A , T HEA N CHORSTU D I O.P HOTOG R A P HY
C
hapel Hill natives Alexa Phillips and Niko Gibson felt sparks fly in the summer of 2014. “We had our first encounter while running the trails of Wilson Park, where we exchanged smiles as we passed each other,” Alexa says. “I hoped we’d run into each other again.” Her wish came true a few weeks later when the two connected while out with friends at La Residence. Niko asked Alexa on a date to Elmo’s Diner the next day, and the two discovered they both attended Frank Porter Graham Elementary but were a grade apart. Niko proposed in January 2020 at his family’s cabin in Chapel Hill. Alexa believed they were there for a friend’s surprise party, but Niko popped the question just before they entered the cabin. Niko’s sister, Carina Gibson, and her partner appeared from around the corner and sang “Hold On, We’re Going Home” by Drake – the song the couple sang to each other on the night they met at La Res. Alexa and Niko were married on Sept. 26, 2020, at the Chapel Hill Carriage House, joined by a combination of in-person and virtual guests. After a Mediterranean Deli-catered dinner, everyone went to the cabin for the after-party. “Donning masks and dousing [ourselves in] hand sanitizer, we were able to tie the knot, dance, eat, drink and celebrate until the wee hours of the morning,” Alexa says. “It felt like a true intimate celebration of love with our closest friends and family members.” The couple lives in Beaverton, Oregon, where Alexa works in communications for Nike, and Niko is a construction contractor. CHM March 2021
chapelhillmagazine.com
125