Laura Marie Acker was visiting her mother in Lewes, Delaware, in June 2023, when she joined a group of her mother's friends for a Ouija board night. “During the session, my father sent me a letter and phone number with an amazing message,” Acker said. “We plan to get engaged in 2024.”
When she tried Ouija again five months later, she said she received another message from her father, who died in 2016, encouraging her to continue attending church. “I thought everything was wrong.”
It was late 2023, and after years of living in Miami and New York, Acker continued to experience an “unsatisfying dating life” before moving to Charleston, South Carolina, in 2020. “I've dated men who weren't interested in marriage or a family,” she said. “My career came first.”
Things changed in April when Acker, 39, met Evan Alexander Menscher, 41, through friends at a Charleston Bible study group. Her friend learned about her divorced father, Mr. Menscher, through his daughter's ballet class and asked him about his interest in remarrying. The friend felt that he and Ms. Acker would be a good fit, so he introduced them in a group text.
After a brief phone conversation, Mr. Acker and Mr. Mensher met later that month at Bar 167 in Charleston. “When I saw Evan sitting on the bar stool, it took my breath away,” she said.
Menscher, 41, said Acker was 20 minutes late and was wearing a bright yellow dress with her hair pulled back. “I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen,” he said. “I was surprised when we made eye contact.”
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They closed the bar and talked about their life journeys, values, careers, different religions (she's Roman Catholic, he's Jewish), and their dreams. “Time stands still,” she said. “I felt that my father's spirit was guiding Evan to me.”
After kissing her goodbye, she immediately texted her best friend from college that she might have met her husband.
Mr. Menscher called his sister and told her, “I'm going to marry that girl.''
Our second date was a pizza party a few days later. Acker met Menscher's 5-year-old daughter and watched as Menscher engaged her in a game of Mr. Napkinhead as everyone burst into laughter. “It reminded me of a scene in the movie 'The Holiday,'” Acker said, referring to a scene in the 2006 Nancy Meyers movie where Jude Law plays the same game with his two daughters.
Later, she called Mr. Mensher and said it was like ordering the perfect boyfriend and his adorable daughter from Amazon and having them delivered to her doorstep. “You'd better not send us back,” he replied.
Mr. Mensher was born in New York City and raised in South Brunswick, New Jersey, and holds a bachelor's degree in kinesiology and exercise science from High Point University and a master's degree in cell biology and molecular biology from East Carolina State University. Masu. He works as a remote Enterprise Account Executive at Zoom.
Mr. Acker was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, raised in Clifton, Virginia, and holds a bachelor's degree in marketing and hospitality from Florida State University. She is executive vice president of Krebs PR & Marketing, based in Coral Gables, Florida, and oversees the company's southeast office in Charleston.
They enjoyed dinners, movies, and picnics on the boat, but there was one source of early tension. It was the difference in the dog's parenting style. Acker's 1-year-old dog, Sawyer, is an energetic rescue Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who runs the house, sitting at the dinner table and begging for food. Mr. Mensher, who grew up with dogs and had two during his previous marriage, is a rather disciplined person.
“When Evan made a negative comment under his breath about Sawyer's behavior, I became furious and rushed to Sawyer's defense,” she said. They discussed it and the initial quarrel was resolved.
On September 22, as the couple and Sawyer enjoyed a sunset beach walk on nearby Sullivan's Island, Mensher got down on one knee and proposed. “I was so surprised that I jumped into his arms before I could say yes,” Acker said.
The couple were married on January 2nd in front of a roaring fire at the Old Edwards Inn Farm in Highlands, North Carolina. The Rev. Carl Sutherland, pastor of St. John's Episcopal Church in Franklin, North Carolina, performed the wedding in front of 10 guests. (Five minutes after the ceremony started, my daughter yelled, “Kiss me now!”)
“We moved quickly because there was never a moment of mutual doubt,” Menscher said of their nine-month romance.
Acker said Menscher gave her a sense of confidence, safety and security. “Evan encouraged me to always be honest and transparent,” she added.
