Soldier in surprise wedding at gymnastics meet

[unhappycamper]

Army Staff Sgt. Ray Hignite and Kara Patterson say their vows in front of friends -- and about 1,000 onlookers. Patterson, a gymnastics coach, was told to bring her wedding dress to a meet to match ribbon colors, and then persuaded to try it on. Only then did she find out the real surprise: It was her wedding.


Soldier in surprise wedding at gymnastics meet
By Amy Howell - Cincinnati Enquirer
Posted : Sunday Dec 21, 2008 13:03:23 EST

Kara Patterson arrived at Duke Energy Convention Center Saturday morning to coach her gymnastics students in a downtown tournament.

But before the meet was over, she had traded in her Adidas warm-up pants and T-shirt for a white wedding gown — and had become the blushing bride in a surprise wedding planned by her fiancée, Army Staff Sgt. Ray Hignite, and her father, Brett Patterson.

“I didn’t think it would be anything like this,” Patterson said. “It was really shocking.”

In November, Hignite, 25, got the news that he would leave Jan. 1 to begin training for an engineering operation in Afghanistan. The couple, who were engaged in February, decided to get married in a simple, private ceremony at Brett and Debbie Patterson’s West Chester home on Dec. 27.

“She always wanted a nice wedding, something big,” Brett said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/gns_soldier_wedding_122108/%2e