Jessica Cox & Michael Trout

Sitting in his high school Spanish class in New Jersey, Mike Trout decided it was time to make his move, literally. He figured if he acted up, his teacher would banish him to the empty seat in the back of the room–right behind Jessica Cox. Once relocated, the flirting began. The classmates connected through their love of sports and the outdoors, and soon started dating.

Although Mike was a talented young baseball player, they had no idea his skills would land him in the Major League Baseball draft two years later. Jess fervently hoped he would not end up across the country, so naturally the Los Angeles Angels signed him, and the long distance relationship began.

in front of huge barn doors and waiting,” says Jess. “When they opened, I saw Mike and everything else fell away. I could repeat that moment a hundred times over.”

“Wedding planning was actually easier than I thought it would be,” says Emily. “I had the best wedding planner, which made everything seamless. I enjoyed the process, so everything that had to be done was a pleasure to do. I didn’t become a Bridezilla, I am proud to say! It was important for me to stay relaxed and to be ok with things not going the way I wanted.

 Plan B can turn out better than Plan A. But come wedding day, we were both nervous. The morning was long and tiring, and the evening was a blur. The ceremony was the best part. It felt so natural, like we were doing what we were meant to do. Walking down the aisle with my father and then being given away to my husband was incredibly emotional.”

Right before joining friends and family at the reception in the window-lined ballroom, the newlyweds had an intimate first dance in private. “Our lives can be very public at times, so quiet personal moments are important,” says Jess. 

Then, they joined guests to dance the night away. Between dinner courses, Jess’ dad provided emotional interludes with a moving speech and a slide show he had prepared to Tim McGraw’s “My Little Girl” that had everyone in tears.

To end the evening, friends and family gathered at the floor-to-ceiling windows to watch the bride and groom outside in a snowy field backlit by giant letters spelling “I DO.” Jess and Mike lit a lantern and sent it aloft with good wishes for their happy union. “It was the biggest, craziest, most awesome and loving day of my life, and I would not have changed one single thing,” says Mike.

An action-packed honeymoon—two weeks in Hawaii and Bora Bora—included sightseeing, swimming with sharks and stingrays, and flying over an active volcano. Afterward, the couple returned to their New Jersey home to relax before baseball season took them back to California.