After meeting at Deloitte Consulting in 2015, Courtney Cadel and Alden Hinds began dating and realized they had much more in common than just their jobs supporting the federal government. Three years of dating later, Alden asked Courtney to marry him in a very memorable way. “He proposed after we finished a Spartan Race on Citi Field Stadium in Queens, New York, in 2019,” Courtney recalls. “He used a fake ring he’d bought for $20 on Amazon to propose and only told me about it after I had posted about it on social media and showed my mother! Later, he gave me the real ring from King's Jewelry.”

Just over a year and a half later, on December 20, 2020, Courtney wore a white boho style fit-to-flare dress with a sweetheart neckline and an open back adorned in lace and glass beading as she and Alden exchanged vows under the gazebo by the waterfront in Old Town Alexandria. Having been pronounced married, the newlywed Hindses joined their guests for a reception at Blackwall Hitch, where they dined on a brunch menu that included chicken and waffles.

Originally slated for May in Punta Cana, the rescheduled wedding was planned and executed in two weeks—though it came together beautifully, with a few memorable details. “My mother and I made a plaster wedding cake the night before the wedding instead of serving a real one and people kept trying to cut it!” Courtney laughs.

After being sent off to begin their honeymoon, the newlyweds spent their first days together as man and wife in Cabo San Lucas.