Avery Spitler told her parents after her first date with high school classmate Justus Tuls that they would one day get married. One day turned out to be May 31, 2025, when the pair exchanged vows at The Hillside Estate. Having so many friends in common allowed the high school sweethearts to lean into personalized elements, such as shirts bearing the word “Booyah” that were tossed out at the reception—the product of a long-running joke stemming from a game of Would You Rather. Amid the revelry of the evening, one of Avery’s fondest memories from the night is considerably more intimate. “I remember seeing my groom for the very first time,” she says, “and feeling so overwhelmed with joy that I was getting to marry the man of my dreams.” —Jessica Otte

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D Weddings: Briefly, tell us the story of how you met and got engaged.

Justus: Avery and I began dating in spring of 2021. It was our senior year in high school. When I met her, I was instantly captivated by Avery’s passion for her faith and the abundant joy with which she walked daily. I decided to ask her out, and, after a few tries, she at last said yes! After a great first date, our relationship was off. Avery even told her parents after our first date that she knew she was going to marry me. Later, Avery and I had gone to separate universities. I stayed especially local at SMU while she went off to Baylor in Waco. Although long-distance dating was tough at times, it taught us how to grow emotionally together and to have healthy communication.

On April 6, 2024, I asked Avery if she would marry me. It was posed as a surprise birthday party for my younger brother at the Vaquero Country Club in Westlake. We arrived at the golf course with birthday gifts in hand and turned the corner to a beautiful set-up, where I proposed under a large heart-shaped pink-and-white balloon arch with real pink roses intertwined between balloons. I don’t think we will ever forget the joy we shared when she said yes. After a private moment together, a large gathering of our friends and family jumped out to surprise Avery, and a beautiful engagement party followed the proposal late into the night.

D Weddings: What was your vision for your wedding day?

Avery: Justus and I wanted our wedding day to feel both intimate and grand—an unforgettable celebration that reflected who we are while bringing together the people we love most. Because we went to the same high school and shared many of the same friends and community connections, it was important to me that every guest felt seen and comfortable. To create that sense of familiarity within our 250-person guest list, I carefully designed a seating chart that ensured everyone was seated with people they knew.

We also wanted to give our guests an experience unlike any other wedding they’d attended. We accomplished this by decorating with full and lush florals; choosing a bold, bright, and unexpected color palette; requesting a formal black-tie dress code; and customizing every detail and piece of decor to reflect our relationship and story.

D Weddings: What did you learn from the wedding-planning process?

Avery: I learned that FeteFetti is the greatest wedding-planning team in North America, and I never could have dreamed of planning a wedding like the one we threw without their guidance, direction, and advice. They were incredible to work with, and I could not write a more positive review to reflect the experience we had with Molly, Rachel, and their team.

D Weddings: What were the most important or meaningful elements of your wedding? Why were they significant?

Avery: Justus and I chose a bible verse to be the center theme of our wedding. We chose 1 John 4:19 which says, “We love because He first loved us.” I had this written on the aisle that my dad walked me down, printed on the ceremony programs in beautiful blue ink, and engraved inside of Justus’ wedding band. This verse means so much to us, as we wanted Jesus to be the guest of honor at our wedding. We also had live worship during our ceremony, which was incredible. Finally, we wrote our own vows and read them aloud in front of our all our friends and family so that we could make known the commitment we were making to one another.

D Weddings: What personal touches, if any, did you incorporate?

Justus: When Avery and I first began dating, we would play “Would you rather” questions for fun. One of these questions was posed like this: “Would you rather answer every phone call with ‘Booyah!’ or end every call with ‘Signing Off’?” Since we played that game over four years ago, I’ve answered nearly every single phone call with Avery with a big “Booyah!” Supposedly, Avery can immediately tell my mood just from the tone of my “Booyah” greeting. Our close friends also became privy to this ritual, as you can imagine. So during our reception, Avery and I threw dozens of t-shirts with “Booyah!” written on the front to our friends. In addition, we had “Booyah” written on napkins for our midnight snack.

Anyone who knows Avery, knows she loves ice cream. And anyone who knows me, knows I love spicy food. So for our midnight snack, Avery and I had a sundae bar paired with hot wings and fries.

D Weddings: What were some of your favorite moments from the day?

Avery: Having all our people in one place! Our private vows, first kiss, speeches, and dancing with all our friends!

D Weddings: What do you remember the most from the day?

Avery: I remember the moments that I shared with my dad right before the doors to ceremony space opened. I remember seeing my groom for the very first time and feeling so overwhelmed with joy that I was getting to marry the man of my dreams. I remember how amazing our saxophonist was and how well he did at making our reception electric all night. I remember our first dance on our gorgeous monogramed blue-and-white-checkered dance floor surrounded by candles and overwhelmingly beautiful florals.

D Weddings: Were there any surprises?

Avery: We had menus made of sweet milk chocolate at each seat for our guests to not only view their appetizers, entrees, and desserts on, but also had the opportunity to eat or take home as a favor. This was a huge hit, and every guest loved the unique touch. We still hear about how much people loved the chocolate menus.

How many guests did you have? 250

What was your first dance song? “At Last” by Etta James

What were your specialty cocktail(s), if you had any?
Hers: Strawberry Mojito
His: Old Fashioned

Where did you honeymoon? Amanyara Resort in Turks and Caicos