VENUE : Jerry and Jill Finn ’ s Family Farm WEDDING DRESS : Gabriella ’ s New York Bridal Salon ( Designer : Lihi Hod ) FLORAL CROWN : Forage RINGS : Koerber ’ s Fine Jewelry ( Jacquelyn ’ s wedding band was the original band her late father , Michael Koerber , gave her mother , Felecia Koerber ; Alex ’ s wedding band was his grandfather ’ s .) SHOES : Badgley Mischka PHOTOGRAPHER : Holeigh V Photography FLORIST : Nance ’ s Florist WEDDING PLANNER : Nance ’ s Events CATERER : Neil and Patty ’ s Fireside Grille BARTENDERS : Lip Service , Inc . STATIONERY : Impressions by Helane Cooper CALLIGRAPHER FOR INVITATIONS : Calligraphy by Tracey CALLIGRAPHER FOR WEDDING SIGNS AND PROPS : Riley + Ko BRIDESMAID DRESSES : Jenny Yoo MEN ’ S SUITS : The Black Tux WEDDING CEREMONY AND COCKTAIL HOUR MUSICIANS : Danny Kiely , Craig Wagner , Jane Halliday and Ben Andrews Wedding Reception Band : Tony and the Tanlines
When Jacquelyn Koerber first met Alex McClure , it was love at first sight – for him . So much so that the then 23-year-old concluded the 30-year-old woman he ’ d just met was his perfect match , got down on one knee and proposed .
“ I , of course , laughed him off and said , ‘ You ’ re insane !’” says Koerber , who had just recently moved back to Kentuckiana from New York City , where she had been living for the past seven years . Koerber had been out with her cousin , and McClure ended up in their circle of friends when they first met in 2013 .
“ The more we talked , the more we realized we had in common ,” Koerber says . “ I lived in New York for seven years . He actually went to school in upstate New York . As the night progressed and the drinks flowed , I guess you could say , Alex came to the conclusion that I was his dream girl and actually got down on one knee and proposed to me .”
Says McClure : “ I knew the first night that we met . … My first proposal was promptly rejected , but it ’ s something we still laugh about to this day .”
Koerber brushed it off that evening , and they didn ’ t meet again for another six months . “ I went out with my cousin again and ran into him , and of course he was so embarrassed ,” she says . “ He was like ‘ I never thought I ’ d see you again !’ and I was kind of OK with that because I was so embarrassed .’”
As Koerber spent more time with her cousin while making new friends in town , she became close with McClure , although nothing romantic blossomed between them .
“ In the interim , I found out that my dad ( Michael Koerber ) got stage four cancer and was sick ,” Koerber recalls . “ Having found that out , I didn ’ t tell anyone . Not my best friends , not even other family members because I think to say it out loud meant it was real . But I found myself telling Alex about it – this random guy that I was semi good friends with – and I started confiding in him everything that was going on with my father , the deepest personal life stuff .
“ Through that , our friendship continued to grow and I realized what an important person he ’ d become in my life . We just got really close , and we ended up going out on a date . He , of course , had asked me out many times between that moment and then , but I wasn ’ t ready to date .
“ I had a friend tell me , ‘ Here you have this guy that has been so good to you and been such a good friend to you . You ’ re an idiot if you don ’ t go out with him ! It kind of woke me up , and and I was like , ‘ yeah , you ’ re right .’”
Despite a seven-year age difference , McClure and Koerber dated seriously for two-and-a-half years . Koerber , whose name is synonymous with fine jewelry – her family owns and operates Koerber ’ s Fine Jewelry in New Albany – had heard “ about a million proposal stories ” but said she truly wasn ’ t prepared for the day McClure popped the question himself , for real this time .
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