Page 8 - Winter 2021

Friends
in high school
Soul Mates
in life
Lyndsey Gilland & Chase Lee tie the knot
Newlyweds Chase Lee and Lyndsey Gilland were high school friends but not yet sweethearts.
After graduation, they went in different directions—Lyndsey to Georgia College and Chase to the University of North Georgia’s Oconee campus, but fate would not give up that easily.
After a year, Lyndsey transferred to Athens Tech to finish her nursing degree and went to work at Piedmont Athens Regional. Chase completed his fire science degree and went to work as a Walton County firefighter. That’s about the time the two became an official couple.
Lyndsey recalls sitting on the front porch talking with Chase’s sister, Chelsea, about the future just a few months into their relationship. Chelsea asked if Lyndsey saw herself marrying Chase, and her immediate answer was “of course.”
Story by Cyndee Perdue Moore Photos by Nicole Flores Photography Co.
Fast forward six and a half years, and that “of course” became an “I do” as the couple tied the knot on Sept. 19 during the midst of a global pandemic.
The proposal story is straight out of a romantic comedy. The Gillands were preparing for a family trip to Washington, D.C., to visit Lyndsey’s brother, Tyler, who had recently joined the Navy and was stationed at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia.
Two days before the trip, Chase showed up unexpectedly to visit with Lyndsey’s father, Geof. The purpose of the visit? To ask for permission to marry his daughter. Geof ’s response? He called his wife.
Tammy Gilland laughed as she recalled that phone conversation.
“Geof said, ‘Chase is here at the house, and he wants to marry Lyndsey. Are you okay with that?” After Tammy said yes,
Geof added that Chase wanted to propose to their daughter while they were in D.C. Under the premise of family photos at the Christmas tree in Alexandria’s Market Square, Chase got down on one knee and asked Lyndsey to marry him. Even Chase’s mother, Tonya, and stepfather, Keith, were in on the plan and joined via FaceTime to
witness the proposal.
As soon as Lyndsey said yes, the
wedding took center stage. Tammy, who has planned hundreds of events in her professional capacity as executive director of philanthropy at Piedmont Athens Regional Foundation, was now planning the most important event of all: her daughter’s wedding. And she only had nine months.
Tammy began contacting vendors right away. In fact, the proposal happened at the end of December and all of the
Newlyweds Chase Lee and Lyndsey Gilland Lee took their first photos as husband and wife at Historic Smithonia Farm in Colbert. Lyndsey said her great-grandparents lived on the property in the late 1970s.
sCyndee Perdue Moore is an Oconee County resident and the executive director of the University of North Georgia Oconee Campus. PAGE 6 | OCONEE THE MAGAZINE | WINTER 2021