Lauren Lukacek and Robert Parks’ love story flourished thanks to happy happenstance. With their best friends married to each other, they met at a party while Lauren was visiting her best friend in San Diego. A year later, while Lauren was on tour performing in Love Never Dies, a sequel to Phantom of the Opera, she visited the area of California where Robert was living and invited him to the show. They began dating, and Robert flew to 10 different cities just to see Lauren perform. Robert got tickets to Wicked on Broadway, where Lauren’s college friend is the conductor, and while on a backstage tour after the show, Robert popped the question on stage in the Gershwin Theatre—the perfect proposal for his theater gal. The wedding was a lovely private affair at the bride’s childhood home and featured numerous heirlooms, including Lauren’s gown. The dress was made by her grandmother for her mother to wear in the 1968 Miss Louisiana pageant (which she won). As part of their 1950s vintage wedding theme, the couple aimed for a sustainable, low-waste wedding with locally grown, brightly colored flowers and mismatched dishes. The white mums her father planted to line the aisle magically turned pink—Lauren’s favorite color.