Emily Maynard got secretly married over the weekend
Most of the guests at The Bachelorette alum Emily Maynard’s wedding to Tyler Johnson Saturday night in Charlotte, N.C. thought they were there for an engagement party, but they were greeted with a welcome surprise: a beautiful wedding ceremony featuring a bride in a pink dress and cowboy boots!
According to E! News, the invitations were fun and unique: guests were given viewfinders with an array of photographs of the happy family and a request to come to their engagement party. Emily had previously had quite a time at a white trash themed Bachelorette party.
Emily’s 8-year-old daughter Ricki was her maid of honor. “It’s just as much her day as it is mine because it’s a big change for her,” Emily said. “She just adores Tyler and he is so good with her. He loves her as if she was his own daughter. It’s been so great to see their relationship grow.”
Emily, who now goes by Emily Johnson, was ecstatic post-wedding, telling People.com, “God brought us together. He’s given me such peace about everything. I’m so grateful I met him.”
The happy couple met in church. “I used to teach a jewelry making class at a middle school that my church adopted and Tyler was one of the coordinators of the program. Well, every Thursday I could count on him to come help me carry all of my beads out to my car at the end of class,” Emily wrote on her blog about their initial connection. “The only problem was he was so good looking that I could barely make eye contact with him, much less have a normal conversation. I kind of pride myself on being able to have an interesting conversation with a wall if need be, but for some reason I was so intimidated by him and the fact that he showed me no interest at all just made it that much worse!”
“Fast forward a few years (and a few attempts to find love on tv) to our first date and we’ve been inseparable ever since! I’m so grateful to God for bringing him into our life because he’s been the biggest blessing to Ricki and I both. I can truly look back now and see how God has guided me through everything, even the hard times when I thought I’d be alone forever, and used it all to make me the person I am so that I’d be ready,” she continued. “Goodness knows I have a long way to go to be the person He created me to be, but I couldn’t have picked a more amazing man to get to spend the rest of my life with and I can’t wait to see what all God has planned of us as a family!”
Tyler is whisking Emily away to a beach honeymoon before they settle down as a family in Charlotte, but even she doesn’t know where they’re going. “Tyler planned it. He told me we’re going to a beach. We could totally be going to Myrtle Beach for all I know!” she joked.
Emily has been through quite a time with love with losing her fiancé (and Ricki’s father) Ricky Hendricks, and having two unsuccessful love matches on both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. It’s great to see her happy and in love!
