A celebration of love, family and fun
Story by Paul South
Submitted photos
In the movies, love stories begin in glitzy spots, like the top of the Empire State Building, or with blind date jitters or online mysteries.
But Hunter and Hallie Hannah Craton’s road to romance began – as it is with many folks – over dinner. In their case, steaming plates of Mexican food – her go-to chicken enchilada with sour cream and fajita quesadilla for him – spiced up the first date.
Seven years later, on Oct. 14, 2023, the two were married at a spot more beautiful than any Manhattan skyscraper, on the banks of Logan Martin Lake and in sight of the iconic Pirate Island. The wedding was celebrated at a family friend’s lakeside home, the rehearsal dinner and reception next door at Hallie’s grandfather’s home.
Trees adorned with lights and the lake teamed with an altar crafted from a gold ring of flowers.
“It was so beautiful, we didn’t have to do too much,” Hallie recalls.
The couple had become engaged almost a year to the day before, on the banks of the lake, a fitting spot for two Pell City kids. From their first date fiesta to the wedding, seven years passed. Their relationship endured being separated by college. Hunter majored in building science at Auburn, Hallie in marketing at Jacksonville State.
Hallie works in sales, while Hunter works for Goodgame Company, both in Pell City.
Again, with a touch of serendipity, they were engaged on the anniversary of their first date. But Hunter Craton knew that she was his forever love long before the diamond ring.
“Within about a month of the first date, I pretty much knew,” Hunter says. “She’s got a great personality, and that’s pretty much what stood out to me. She was a lot of fun to be around.”
College has extinguished more than one high school flame, but not for these two. For them, love never failed. They weathered separation and a year of wedding prep. “It actually made us stronger,” Hallie says.
And there were differences in personality, Hunter is an admitted introvert, but Hallie “brought me out of my shell,” he says.
Hallie was smitten sooner. She put it this way: “When you know, you know. I fell in love with Hunter almost immediately,” she says. “Hunter is kind to all, funny, dependable and has felt like home from the moment I met him.”
She adds, “I never knew I needed someone like Hunter in my life,” she says. “He calms me.”
And while other couples fall for the trends of the day, Hallie and Hunter were traditional. Hunter, gentleman to the core, asked her parents for her hand.
“He absolutely did,” Hallie’s mother, Jennifer Hannah, says. “He texted us and wanted us to meet him for dinner and said we don’t need Hallie to know about it. We kind of knew what it was.
“They were already making life decisions and financial decisions based on what the other was doing.”
It begs a question: What took them so long?
After high school, Hunter joined the union, then toiled as an ironworker for several months before commuting for a few classes at Auburn, then transferring to campus to complete his degree.
“There was a lot of prep needed financially before we went through all this from the engagement to the wedding,” Hunter says. “We wanted to make sure we were ready for all that.”
They were ready. And while many in this part of the world choose church weddings, others courthouse nuptials, even elopement, the lake was always the place for the future Mr. and Mrs. Craton. It was a family place, a place of memories for generations of Hallie’s family.
“It was the only special place in my heart to me,” she says. “What makes it even more special was not only does my grandfather live there, my cousin lives nearby as well. My aunt lives just across the street. We’ve always been big lake people. I’ve always wanted to get married at the lake.”
While the actual wedding party was “very formal” – black tie and black formal dresses, the guests were allowed to be casual.
“We didn’t really care what people wore,” Hallie says. “We’re very casual people. When it came to what (guests) wore, we were more semi-formal.”
It was the wedding of Hallie’s dreams.
“I always pictured the black and white theme. We had a square black and white dance floor.
While wedding planning can sometimes deteriorate into a Jerry Springer-style throwdown, Hallie and her Mom had only one “knock down drag out in the days right before the blessed event.
Chairs.
“Back in the day, when I got married, I was not working like Hallie and Hunter. I’d just graduated from college, and I was about to start my first teaching job. So (for Hallie and Hunter’s day), I was ‘Whatever you want. Whatever you want,” except when it came to those chairs. We got in a fight about chairs.”
But the blowout eased pre-wedding nerves.
“It was a small thing. But we were stressed out,” Hallie says. “We needed to have a cry. Planning a wedding is stressful, especially when it’s just you, your Mom and the coordinator for a 300-plus person wedding on the lake.”
The couple, their parents and friends did a lot of the pre-wedding decorating themselves late into several evenings, stringing up white lights in the surrounding trees and other tasks for the wedding. Elegance carried the day.
And it seems with every wedding, something funny happens.
Hallie’s first drop at the reception did the trick.
“I tore my dress,” she says. “It ripped right below my butt, and it was a big hole in my brand new, beautiful dress.”
Humor also came from a little 1980s rock n’ roll.
Dan, Hunter’s brother-in-law, closed the ceremony reading the lyrics from The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News.
“At first we had no idea where he was going,” Jennifer says. “It was sweet. It was funny. It was perfect. (Dan) was there for all of their love story, so it was perfect.”
And of course, there was the father-daughter dance, a month in the making.
“Hallie is a great dancer,” Jennifer says.
And her Dad, Jason Hannah?
“He’s a Dad.”
It was a magical night.
But what advice would they give to others planning their weddings?
The mother of the bride was brief:
“Destination wedding.”
Hunter wasn’t much involved in the planning, save the two weeks prior to the big night. Then he was hard at it, stringing lights that hung like low stars on the lakeside.
“That was my time to shine.”
What advice would he give to friends and perhaps a future son?
“Get ready to work.”
As for Hallie, she says, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.
“There’s no need to worry about the small stuff, because the small stuff that I worried so much about for my wedding, I barely even recognized the day of. There’s a balance when you’re having a wedding,” Hallie says. “As long as you maintain that everything will be OK.”
