It’s as if they were destined to be together.Audrey and Gage McCarty have known eachother since kindergarten. Both raised in Madison,Audrey says she knew Gage, but didn’t reallypay attention to him. “To hear his side of thestory, he thinks I was ‘too cool for school’ totalk to a guy like him.” In the tenth grade,Audrey and Gage had several mutual friends.“We both had late birthdays, so we were twoof the youngest students in our class,” explainsAudrey. “That means all our friends weredriving before us. I didn’t want my mom todrive me to school when I was in the tenth grade,so I asked a friend of mine if he could pick meup each day. I didn’t know that Gage had alsoasked him, so for several weeks, I rode in thefront seat and Gage rode in the back and wedidn’t really think much of it.”One day the driver of the carpool washaving girl problems. “He stopped at Chick-fil-Aand went inside, pouting. Gage and I stayed inthe car and that was the first time we had everbeen alone together. We bonded over our friendbeing so dramatic!” After that Audrey and Gagebecame fast friends, but they didn’t start datinguntil they were seniors in high school. “I’m soglad I started paying attention to him in highschool,” says Audrey. “Gage is such a sweet,good person, but the kind of person girls didn’tpay as much attention to as they did to some ofthe more outgoing boys. I got tired of how thoseboys acted and fell in love with Gage’s sweetdisposition.”Audrey and Gage went to Mississippi Stateand dated throughout college. Audrey majoredin fashion design and merchandising. In May2018, the same week she graduated from college,she purchased The Bridal Path bridal shop inBanner Hall in Jackson along with her mother,Janie Jarvis, and her sister, Amelia Jarvis. ThatDecember Gage accompanied the Jarvis familyfor a vacation to the Jarvis’s ski home in Telluride.It was during that trip that Gage proposed,but Audrey didn’t see it coming. “First of all, Iinvited Gage along on the trip, so there was that.And Gage was waiting to hear if he was acceptedinto nursing school,” she says. “Our friends wereabsolutely consumed with wanting to knowwhen we were going to be engaged, but Gagewanted to know where he was going to be,and what he was going to do before taking thatstep, and I understood that. I knew that hemeant well and only wanted the best for us.”Janie had arranged for a photographer totake family photos while they were in Colorado.“That didn’t send up any red flags for me, either,”says Audrey. “We always take family photos forour Christmas cards, but we had not gottenaround to it that year. My mom said we coulddo them and send cards out for New Year’s,which made sense to me.”The photographer came and shot photosof the family. “My sister’s boyfriend was alsothere, so we had the two boyfriends get in someof the photos. Then the photographer shotphotos of just my sister and her boyfriend, thenme and Gage. I was sitting on a fence and thephotographer directed me to get down for thenext photo, and as I was hopping off the fence,Gage went to his knee and pulled out the ring.I was absolutely shocked, but I believe I said‘yes’ before he even popped the question!”When the family returned to the ski house, thesurprise was on Gage. Audrey’s parents, Janieand Mike Jarvis, were in on the engagementsurprise. They had flown Gage’s family toTelluride to share the couple’s joy. So bothfamilies spent the next few days skiing together.30 • MARCH 2020
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