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Photography by Karen Fox.
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Photography courtesy of Kami Fox.
Kami Fox and Mason Doyle with their marriage license.
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Photography courtesy of Bryan Rosso
During the wedding on Jun. 13, 2020, the wedding party pranked the bride and groom by incorporating lightsabers into the 4 p.m. ceremony.
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Photography courtesy of Scott Beecham
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Photography by Christy Nevills
Kami Fox and Mason Doyle in front of The Muny on their wedding day.
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Photography by Ronda Verret
Kami Fox with her father.
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Photography courtesy of Wesley and April Wood (Best Man and Matron of Honor)
Mason Doyle proposing to Kami Fox at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville on Dec. 13, 2019.
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Photography courtesy of Wesley and April Wood (Best Man and Matron of Honor)
Kami Fox and Mason Doyle at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville on Dec. 13, 2019.
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Photography courtesy of Kami Fox
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Photography courtesy of Jessica Justice
Kami Fox and Mason Doyle on Jan. 28, 2018, the day Kami surprised Mason by driving two hours to see him on his birthday.
An Instant Spark
Kami Fox and Mason Doyle met in January 2018 in a Facebook group a mutual friend had started for singles in the Apostolic Pentecostal faith. When they officially met during a group hangout, the two were immediately attracted to each other. The friends encouraged Kami and Mason to run to Target together and made sure they sat next to each other on the sofa that night. Soon, they were texting and had their first date at Panda Express. Although they were attending colleges an hour apart in Tennessee, the couple made time on weekends to visit each other and attend the other’s church. Just 10 days into dating, they both felt it was meant to be. Then, Kami told Mason she couldn’t make it for his birthday but drove two hours to his church to surprise him. She walked in as he was starting a Sunday school lesson. He says that’s the moment he knew she was the one.
“The way he looked at me when I walked in the double doors was the way you hope someone will look at you someday,” Kami says.
After five months of phone calls and weekend drives, they ended up living five minutes away from each other when Kami transferred to a school in Jackson. They got a head start on the “in sickness and in health” part of their future vows when Kami shattered her ankle and Mason helped take care of her through her surgeries. They celebrated their first Christmas together at Kami’s favorite place, the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville. One year later, Mason brought Kami there again to ask her to marry him.
Under the Gazebo
Mason had been thinking about proposing to Kami on some level since his birthday the year before, but as both approached their graduations and Mason started thinking about graduate school, he started to feel like it was the right time.
“I knew I wanted to bring Kami with me,” Mason says. “I knew I wanted us to be married.”
On December 13, 2019, under the striking white gazebo decorated with red poinsettias and holiday lights, Mason asked Kami to marry him. Their best friends, who would be the Best Man and Maid of Honor at their wedding, joined for the special moment.
The couple chose to have their wedding at Solid Rock Church in Fenton, where Kami’s family attended tuntil she was 5. The couple’s initial guest list had more than 200 names on it, all names of beloved family and friends that Kami and Mason wanted to share their day with. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the couple to cancel the reception, but Kami, Mason, and Solid Rock management tried to find a solution that would allow some version of the wedding to still happen. No matter what, though, some people would be uninvited. The idea of not having every single person on their guest list broke their hearts, Mason says. Then Kami had an idea: Host two ceremonies, back-to-back, to comply with social distancing and let everyone attend the wedding.
Two Is Better Than One
Family members and friends could R.S.V.P. online for either the 2 p.m. or 4 p.m. service. At the 2 p.m. service, the tone was emotional, traditional, and loving. Mason and Kami mixed sand in an hourglass to symbolize coming together. Most guests were crying by the end of the vows. By the 4 p.m. service, however, the pressure was off, and the wedding party made sure Kami and Mason wouldn’t soon forget their special day.
“My groomsmen told me they didn’t want it to be a boring wedding,” Mason says, with a laugh. The party pulled one lighthearted prank after another, from holding up signs—which their dads had made—suggesting Kami should “return [Mason] to sender” to Mason’s brother offering Kami a dog leash instead of a ring. After a prayer, Mason felt Kami tugging on his sleeve and opened his eyes to find the wedding party creating an archway for the couple to walk under—not with their hands, but with Star Wars lightsabers.
One day, Kami says, she will tell her kids: "I loved your dad so much, I married him twice in one day."
