Nurses Marry in Emotional Wedding After Epic Engagement at Hospital Where They Fell in Love During Pandemic
Moonstone Photography Kelsey Dunlap and Jacob Young
When Jacob Young surprised Kelsey Dunlap with a marriage proposal on Oct. 15, 2021, a medical helicopter touched down on the roof of the hospital where both ER nurses work, and then Jacob jumped out with a ring. The extraordinary moment went viral on TikTok, garnering over 2.7 million views.
Exactly a year later, on Saturday, the couple married at Vinewood Stables in Newnan, Georgia — and PEOPLE has the exclusive wedding photos.
The fête began with an outdoor ceremony led by the groom's brother, Christian Young. About 110 close friends and family looked on as teary-eyed Kelsey, 25, and Jacob, 29, exchanged vows while holding hands beneath the canopy of a 200-year-old pecan tree.
"It felt like a lifetime coming," says Kelsey, who wore a lace, beaded gown with a full train and cathedral veil. "Saying 'I do' was the easiest two words to come out of our mouths."
Moonstone Photography Kelsey Dunlap and Jacob Young
Hours before the ceremony, the couple read letters to each other in a private exchange of vows. Both very emotional, they feared they would not be able to share these personal pronouncements aloud at the altar without completely breaking down in tears.
"I love all of you — every single part of what makes you Jacob Edward Young. I am profoundly, deeply and overwhelmingly in love with you," Kelsey said, in part.
"Today is the day that I prayed for for years to come," the groom said. "You are my everything."
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After the ceremony, guests moved indoors to dine on dishes like braised beef with a creamy polenta, chicken marsala and manchego mac and cheese, all while the DJ played a list of upbeat music curated by the couple.
"We were really trying to make it a party," says Kelsey.
The three-tiered wedding cake was covered in cream cheese frosting and included a bottom layer with an entire bottle of champagne baked in. Layers of almond and lemon cake topped it off.
Moonstone Photography Kelsey Dunlap and Jacob Young cutting their wedding cake
After a "mini-moon" cruise later this week from Fort Lauderdale to spots including Honduras and Cozumel, the couple will take a longer honeymoon in late January to Australia and New Zealand.
A mutual love of travel is just one of the many similarities the couple discovered when they first met in the fall of 2019 in the emergency room of Wellstar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta. Kelsey — then a nursing student at nearby Kennesaw State University — was randomly assigned to shadow Jacob, already a nurse for several years, for a trauma shift.
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"When he walked in, I was like, 'Oh my gosh,' because he was obviously handsome and walked in the room like he owned it," says Kelsey.
Jacob was smitten. "I immediately ran home and talked about this very gorgeous girl that I got to [work] with for eight hours and show her everything," he says.
Jacob quickly learned more about Kelsey, including that she was in a relationship. "I had a great time that day, but I was heartbroken that she wasn't available at the time," he says.
Moonstone Photography The couple's first dance
Jacob, who grew up in Calhoun, Georgia, always thought he wanted to pursue medicine, and eventually decided on emergency room nursing before graduating from Kennesaw State in 2017.
After Kelsey graduated in December 2019 and started her job in the ER, the pair bonded as the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020.
"He was just my work crush on a whole new level," says Kelsey. "Even when I was technically in a relationship when we first met, he was always the guy at work that I blushed under my mask about."
Moonstone Photography Kelsey Dunlap and Jacob Young with their wedding party
She admired how he always had time to answer her questions and provide support. "He took every opportunity possible to make sure that I felt comfortable and was doing okay," she says.
About a year after the pair first met, Kelsey's relationship ended, which Jacob soon discovered through a work colleague.
"He faked like he didn't know I was single and was like, 'How is it going?'" Kelsey recalls. "I'm like, 'Oh, actually, we broke up.' He said, 'Well, you want to get coffee?' He already knew."
Their first date took place during a 15-minute work break in September 2020 — and led to a second date outside the hospital a few days later.
In their personal vow exchange — which was filmed for their forthcoming wedding video — Jacob recalled his "most vivid memory" of their early days together: how that second date "lasted two days."
"We stayed up 'till 5 a.m. in bed, just talking about what kind of futures we dreamed for ourselves, and the future families we wanted," he said while reading the letter.
"Never been a fan of clichés, but I swear every star aligned," he continued. "The next morning I drove home, I had the most personal talk with God I've ever had in my life. I promised God that if he gave me you, I would never ask for anything else again."
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Moonstone Photography Kelsey Dunlap and Jacob Young
The pair's bond continued to deepen as they faced the overwhelming sickness and deaths brought on by COVID. Within seven months of their first date, Jacob moved into the townhome Kelsey owned in Marietta.
"Everyone always says, 'How do y'all not get sick of each other and all things?' Because we work every single shift together — same exact hours, same days of the week," she says. "We ride together to and from work every day."
"But that's really the most special part about us," she adds. "With really critical patients, I'm extra grateful to have him there just because it's so taxing. We can find each other if we need each other. It makes the world of difference."
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"And every single night we leave work," adds Jacob, "we come home, we have a meal together and we just talk about our day, every single day. Honestly, it has been the biggest blessing of all. I couldn't do the job without her."
Outside of work, the couple loves hiking with their 20-month-old golden retriever, Millie, staying home to binge TV series and traveling.
Mallory McManus Kelsey Dunlap, Jacob Young and Millie, their golden retriever
"Once we grew out of our work relationship, I realized how caring he is, and we're both very family oriented," says Kelsey. "I cannot wait to make that man a daddy. We're thinking six months after the wedding, we'll start trying."
"We both had some rocky roads leading to finding each other and we're so lucky our paths crossed," she continues. "He is just is the sweetest — caring, funny, just down to earth. He will move mountains for you without you asking. And our love just grew and grew."
So when Jacob — who played football in high school and starred in the school's production of Jacob and the Technicolor Dreamcoat — decided to propose, he had to do something memorable and big.
"I knew it was going to be a very special day, I wanted a shock factor," he says. "I didn't want it to be just something that the average Joe did."
With help from hospital colleagues, Jacob arranged to board a hospital helicopter and land on the roof.
Kelsey, meanwhile, thought she was picking up a patient as she wheeled a stretcher to the helicopter. But then Jacob popped out from behind the chopper, got on a knee and proposed.
Chad Corliss Photography Jacob Young and Kelsey Dunlap
Kelsey immediately said yes, and their hugs and kisses — met with cheers from the hospital staff — quickly won countless hearts online.
"It was really nice to get to have a lot of positivity around it and feel the support from all of our friends and family and then strangers saying it is so magical. It fills their heart, and they're crying," says Kelsey. "It just makes you feel like a romance novel — I really don't know how else to put it."
But their happy ending isn't one Kelsey could have seen coming. "I never pictured being so obnoxiously happy and in a relationship," Kelsey says. "It's something that you don't really think exists until you have it. And it just makes you feel so lucky and blessed."
Jacob also can't believe his good fortune. "I am overjoyed to scream to the world that you are the love of my life," Jacob read aloud to Kelsey before their wedding. "I am so proud that for the rest of my life I get to call you my love, mother of our children, my wife, and most of all, my best friend."
