Jack & Andy

June 8, 2019

By Caroline Edmondson

 Andrew Brent Freeman and John Haywood McCown tied the knot on June 8, 2019 at a destination ceremony on beautiful Harbour Island in the Bahamas. The couple first met back in January of 2009, when they had a chance run-in at a dueling piano bar in downtown Mobile. “I was just leaving the bar, walking towards the door, when Jack walked in,” Andy remembers. “We passed each other, and both did a double take. While I was saying goodnight to friends, Jack and his friend ended up bailing out on the piano bar and getting in his car parallel parked across the street. As they were pulling down the street, I crossed over in front of them and gave Jack a little wave and nod while walking back towards my car. Taking the shiny bait I threw out there, Jack pulled over and parked again, sending his friend home in a taxi, as I stopped in at the next closest bar. A short while later, Jack appeared in the bar and ultimately came over like a true gentleman and introduced himself. And the rest, as they say, is history,” Andy shares.

 Fast forward seven years to April 30, 2016, and it was time to pop the question. Knowing engagement rings weren’t their style, Andy decided a watch was the perfect accessory, as Jack had previously given a similar one to Andy for his birthday, gifted to him along with the most thoughtful note. With the perfect watch in tow, the two went on a beach weekend to Andy’s brother’s beach house. After a day boating around, the two docked back at the house, and as Jack started walking down the boardwalk, Andy called him back. “I hid around the corner, and as he got to the wharf wondering why I made him come back, there I was on one knee with the watch,” Andy fondly remembers. When asked how Jack knew Andy was “the one,” he replies, “It was pretty obvious that he was ‘the one’ from the beginning of our relationship. Andy has always been a rock through and through. Plus, my mom always said that nerds make the best husbands, and she was right,” Jack jokes.

 For their ceremony, Andy and Jack knew they wanted to have a destination wedding so their friends and family could share in the experience of being on a trip together for such a special day in their lives. “We fell in love with The Dunmore at Harbour Island because of the friendly people there, and we were particularly impressed with the relaxed elegance and attention to detail shown there, so we knew this was the place,” Jack says. “The wedding aesthetic just naturally followed suit and mimicked the casual surroundings of The Dunmore,” he adds. Of the big day, Jack says, “It was all a little bit of a blur having the pressure of everyone staring at you, but I do remember looking at Andy and thinking how I was the luckiest man alive to be standing up there next to him, getting to marry him.”

 The couple jetted out to Napa the following week, splitting time between Calistoga Ranch and Auberge du Soliel.

 Vendors:

Venue/Caterer: The Dunmore

Photographer: Keyhole Photo – Meggan & Jeff Haller

Wedding Planner: Blair Gewin of Blair Weddings + Events

Grooms’ Rehearsal Dinner Attire: East Bay Clothiers

Grooms’ Wedding Suits: Scabal

Accommodations: The Dunmore

Officiant: Spencer Liles