Raquelle and Kendall Fuller met on an otherwise random night out in Washington, D.C. “I was with one of my girlfriends who was visiting, and he was out with two of his guy friends,” Raquelle remembers. “They approached us quickly after we walked in, and the five of us spent the entire evening chatting. Kendall got my number when we left the rooftop lounge.”
As an NFL cornerback, Kendall’s schedule is tight, so, a year and a half into dating, the couple booked a last-minute trip to Mexico on his bye week. “He told me we had a dinner on Friday night, which wasn’t unusual because he always plans dinners on vacation,” Raquelle says. “It was on this huge rock, almost like a cliff, so we had to walk up these narrow stairs to get there. I was wearing heels, so I was very focused on not falling. When we got to the top I saw a group of people standing there, then saw flowers and candles with a long dinner table. It still didn’t click until I realized the group of people there was our family!” Kendall had arranged for both their families to be in Mexico for his proposal. “We walked over to where the flowers were, and that’s where he said the sweetest things and proposed. It was like a movie! Truly one of the best days of my life.”
Being that they’re both from Maryland, Raquelle and Kendall knew they wanted to get married near home. “Friends of ours had told us about Pippin Hill and how beautiful it was,” Raquelle says. “We went to visit and immediately locked in the date that same week.” It was the opposite of decision fatigue. Working around football season meant they had a short engagement timeline and had to move quickly.
Raquelle’s dress search, however, went a little differently. “I love an off-the-shoulder look, and my dress was one of the first ones I had tried on,” she says of her Grace Loves Lace design. “I actually had bought a different dress initially but couldn’t stop thinking about the off-the-shoulder one! I returned my other dress and [went back for] mine. Best decision ever!” Tai Strong and Brides by Briana gave her a glowing beauty look, and a simple necklace and tennis bracelet completed the look. For his part, Kendall went custom with a sleek tuxedo by Brian Alexander Bespoke.
On July 13, 2024, a string quartet played as Raquelle walked down a grassy aisle overlooking the vineyards. “It felt like an actual dream,” she says. “We wanted everyone present, so the ceremony was unplugged and so emotional. Knowing we were becoming one and sharing this beautiful moment with the closest people to us was so special.”
After the ceremony, guests moved inside to the timber-beamed reception space, where circular chandeliers were draped with greenery by Tupelo Floral Company, and bursts of white florals topped tables. “The reception was a huge party,” Raquelle says. “I’m half Latina, so my family was dancing to a lot of Latin music, and so was his.” Rather than a bouquet toss, there was a bouquet dedication. “I dedicated my bouquet to my mother and gave a speech for her,” Raquelle says. “We wanted a very small wedding to keep it intimate, so it was so great being able to talk with everyone.”
The newlyweds’ first dance was to “Speechless” by Dan + Shay. They had a last dance, too, this time just the two of them. “We had a private last dance and then had an old-school getaway car to our hotel,” Raquelle says. They dove right into a minimoon in Naples before Kendall headed off to training camp; after football season, they honeymooned in Hawaii.
