WEDDINGS: Reimagining Love

Some say that best friends make the best couples. If that’s the case, Houston natives Alyssa Michelle Lopez, 30, and Evelin Guadalupe Lopez, 24, are in for a lifetime of love. Alyssa, a sheriff’s deputy for the Waller County Sheriff’s Office, and Evelin, a paramedic student, became best friends while working together at Portrait Innovations in Champions Village. And then one night, being friends turned into something much more.

Alyssa had invited Evelin to the Whiskey River North nightclub near Willowbrook Mall. “I went and we had a blast,” Evelin recalls. “There was one moment when we were dancing to ‘I Don’t Dance’ by Lee Brice. She spun me around the dance floor, and I knew in that moment she was going to be my forever.” Alyssa says she had the exact same thought at the exact same moment. The pair has been together ever since.

On their one-year anniversary in 2018, Alyssa, a graduate of the Art Institute of Houston, took Evelin, a Lone Star College graduate, to Austin. When they arrived early in the morning to check in, Evelin noticed that Alyssa seemed really nervous. Later that day, Alyssa took Evelin to a staircase that overlooked Lake Travis. Both women are huge Harry Potter fans, so Alyssa asked Evelin, “Would you make the Unbreakable Vow with me for the rest of our lives?” Alyssa then pulled out a Harry Potter wand, on which she had placed an engagement ring. “I was so overjoyed, and immediately said yes!” Evelin says. 

Evelin and Alyssa got married on July 11, 2020, at Mia Bella Houston, an events venue in Tomball, with Mario Huerta officiating. The pair was originally planning to get married on their Halloween anniversary, but the pandemic left them wanting to avoid a big event before a vaccine appeared on the horizon. “I didn’t want to postpone any longer. I just wanted to marry Evelin,” Alyssa says. That’s when they decided to do a pop-up wedding with Mia Bella, which they say worked out perfectly.

In fact, Evelin described the entire day as being magical. The most memorable moment for her was when the doors opened and she saw Alyssa standing at the end of the aisle. “Our dream was coming true, and seeing the love of my life just made me feel bliss. Our wedding was finally happening, and we couldn’t be happier!”

Those first moments are forever etched on Alyssa’s heart, as well. “When I proposed to Evelin in 2018, we tried planning the perfect wedding, but life always got in the way. So when I saw those doors open and Evelin walk down the aisle, it absolutely took my breath away. At that moment, I felt as if she and I were the only ones in that room.”

There was one wedding tradition in particular that the pair wanted to include: the sand ceremony, in which several colors of sand are joined together. Alyssa explains, “The white sand is our foundation, and represents Christ. The pink and blue sand that comes together represents Evelin and me coming together as one with Christ.”

“We both have a strong faith [and a strong] relationship with the Lord,” Evelin adds. “He will always be our foundation.”

The brides were concerned about getting their wedding dresses in time, since the big day was only three weeks after plans were finalized. But, Evelin says, “We ordered them from David’s Bridal, and they were here in less than a week from! It worked out perfectly.” And the day itself went off without a hitch as well. “Everything went smoothly, [considering how] little time we had to plan,” Alyssa says. “The only mishap was I forgot the bouquet that I had made for Evelin that morning. But Mia Bella quickly provided me with one when they found out.”

When the dust settles, the couple is planning a trip to Honduras. “It’s where all my family is from, and it’s a beautiful country, Evelin notes. We want to go to Roatán.”

Evelin says that Alyssa has a heart of gold. “She makes me laugh until my tummy hurts, and knows what to say in times of need. She’s a light in darkness, and has the ability to make anyone smile with just one look.”

Alyssa says Evelin is exactly the kind of person everyone needs in their lives. “She has a laugh that’s so infectious. You can’t help but laugh, even when you’re having a bad day. I like to joke with her and say in her world it’s always rainbows and unicorns. I believe people like Evelin are needed to show there is still good in the world.”

Best friends lighting the way for one another and for those around them, all in the name of love. Sounds exactly like the antidote we could all use in times like these.