Even though they’re both from St. Louis, Katherine Clegg and Andy Cheatham had to travel more than 800 miles to San Antonio to meet each other. It was the summer of 2002 and the pair of high schoolers was there to attend a religious camp just prior to Katherine’s junior year at Nerinx Hall and Andy’s senior year at Vianney.

“I honestly don’t think I had any idea I’d marry him,” Katherine said, remembering their meeting. “But, I knew he was more special than anyone else.”

The first time Katherine went to Andy’s house and saw his family, she realized they had another connection: she took ballet and jazz with Andy’s sister and his mother worked at the dance studio.

After dating through the rest of high school, the pair became serious in college. Every year, they celebrated their dating anniversary on Dec. 21. One month after their fifth such celebration - on Jan. 21, 2007 - they went to Steinberg Rink in Forest Park to go ice skating with Katherine’s parents.

While she was tying her skates, Andrew dropped to one knee and asked her to marry him. She said 'yes,' and they quickly called her two sisters and his parents to join them at the rink. Skating took a back seat to rejoicing over the news.

“We’d been saving our money for a Florida vacation after college and that’s when she thought it was coming,” Andy said. “But, I knew we were thinking about a fall wedding, so the timing worked out. I felt getting engaged in the summer would be a little bit of a time crunch for planning the wedding.”

The early engagement still didn’t give them time to secure a wedding on their favorite date - the 21st - so they picked the next best thing: Aug. 11.

For the location, they chose Fox Run Club in Eureka because of its “breathtaking” golf course view and the convenience of having the ceremony and reception at one venue.

“We didn’t have to go to a church, get the limousine, do the photography, and then go to the next place,” Andrew said. “You kind of get there and get in the mood and go with the flow of the day. They have a separate area where you can have the ceremony. It looked very formal and ‘church-esque.’ ”

Some of Katherine’s fondest memories are from the morning of her special day when she got up early with her mom - whom she calls her best friend - for some wedding day morning activities.

“After we got coffee and got our hair done, we went back to my parents’ house for the last time as a single lady,” Katherine said, remembering. “I and my two sisters and my mom cried and it was great.”

Another special moment was seeing Andy just before the wedding, knowing she would be with him the rest of her life.

“I remember distinctly when he finally saw me,” she said. “My knees were weak. Even now I have tears in my eyes. It was the most incredibly overwhelming sensation.”