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wood. Josie is the Marketing Director for Russell Construction of Alabama, Inc. and also has her real estate license with NewWaters Realty. Most recently Josie was the Project Manager for the Home Town Takeover series in Wetumpka, where she led the construction for all the renovations in the show. “It was such an amazing experience not only for me but also for our employees and subcontractors that were able to be a major part of the progress in the City of We- tumpka,” she said. Josie and Heath, in addition to being young business people, are extremely involved in the River Region community and credit civic conscientiousness to their families’ influence — both with family-owned businesses. Josie is on the Board of Directors for the Wilson Family UMCA, Downtown Development Board (DBA), Habitat for Humanity, March of Dimes, and the Tukabatchee Area Council for Boy Scouts. She is also a Loaned Executive for the United Way. Still newly married, we asked Josie and Heath to re- flect on their engagement pe- riod and wedding and share with future grooms- and brides-to-be some insight, having gone through the process. For Josie, the best part of wedding planning was mak- ing those childhood dreams come true: “(You) think through all of the things you thought about as a little girl growing up, about ‘what you would do for your wedding’ and then really get to live out those dreams!” Receiving unsolicited ad- vice from well-meaning friends or family can compli- cate the process for any bride, “I definitely recommend sticking true to what you want and honoring your fam- ily in as much as you can. I am very much a ‘do it your- self ’ type of person and ‘type- A’ personality so I luckily did not have any trouble making decisions of what I liked or disliked. My mom helped me the most and reassured me when I was uneasy making selections. It is always helpful to have a second opinion!” But their big day — as hap- pens with most wedding days — was not without a bit of anxiety. Says Josie, “I wanted everything to be on time. I had the greatest amount of anxiety in between the wedding and the reception when taking pictures because I wanted to get into the reception and see every- one! I did not want the guests to feel like we were ‘taking forever’ to get there. I don’t know why I was so worried.” Heath had a very common experience for any bride or groom finding her or his self in a quiet moment before the ceremony, “Sitting in the room by myself waiting for the ceremony to start was when I had the greatest amount of anxiety. All of the noise and distractions from the day were gone and it became real that it was here.” But after eight years of dating Josie was excited to get down the aisle and that is also the moment Heath remembers most fondly, “It just felt like everything was finally coming together in that mo- ment,” he said. Despite the caution to not feel compelled to take wedding advice from any and everyone, Josie and Heath encourage brides and grooms to take their families into consideration, “Focus on what you want, but also re- member to include your clos- est friends and family. Make it fun!” To make the whole process easier and more pleasant for everyone Heath encourages grooms to communicate and to be a part of the decision making process, “make your decisions together,” he ad- vises. When asked about a final bit of advice for brides, Josie quips, “I don’t recommend a year and seven month en- gagement, but don’t rush! Take it all in!” And now that the wedding is well behind them Heath and Josie were able to share timeless and invaluable in- sight and encouragement for the newly married: “Married life is so much fun! Remember your spouse isn’t perfect and that you have to make the choice to be loving, kind and compas- sionate towards them every day. Finding friends you can hangout with together and having hobbies that you do together are important. We would encourage you to keep Christ first in your marriage and trust in Him. It takes a lot of work to be married but it is the BEST thing that you will experience together!” n 40 AL/ Metro 360 www.almetro360.com Photo by Darren Freeman