LITTLE ROCK — Tyler Vodehnal and Christy Henson’s first encounter didn’t exactly leave them spellbound. Their wedding, though, was truly magical.
Christy had known Tyler’s family for at least a decade before she first met him at the International Brotherhood of Magicians, Ring 29, Christmas party in January 2002. Her father and Tyler’s stepfather were close friends and traveled together to magic conventions and shows across the country.
Tyler’s mother urged him to go to the party — to meet Christy.
“I’m not big on being set up with people, but it just so happened I didn’t have anything else going on so I was like, OK,” he says.
Christy said a quick hello to Tyler at the door and took him up on his shy offer to help her put away tables and chairs at the end of the event, but that was the extent of their conversation.
For Tyler, the occasion was momentous.
“I remember we were in the parking lot walking up and Christy walked by the front door,” he says. “I remember telling myself, ‘Hey, there went the girl I’m going to marry.’ I guess you could honestly say it was love at first sight — for me.”
Tyler started hanging around Christy’s family’s store, Mr. Magic in Little Rock, to be near Christy and to spend time with fellow magicians among shelves full of magic paraphernalia.
One Saturday, Christy’s father suggested that Tyler go with Christy on one of her regular runs to the post office. Tyler was reticent but agreed to go because of his feelings for Christy.
“It was the longest, most quiet ride of my life,” Christy says. “I felt like I was doing a lot of talking but he was giving me one-word answers.”
A week or so later, he invited Christy to hang out. They had Mexican food and saw Peter Pan at the theater.
“I call it an outing. It was never a date. The date didn’t come until about six years later,” she says.
Over the next few years, Christy and Tyler became close friends, even though she moved to Europe for several months.
When she returned, Christy told Tyler about a book she had read, Gary Chapman’s book The 5 Love Languages, and how it helped her better understand people. Tyler borrowed the book, which spurred discussion about what each was looking for in a spouse.
“He had always been kind of shy and I was able to say that, ‘Hey, I’m looking for someone that’s strong and who’s a little bit more confident,’” she says.
Around Christmas 2007, Tyler took a sick Christy cold medication and a quilt his mother and aunt had made for him when he was a little boy.
“Every time I felt bad I would curl up under this quilt and that always helped me feel better,” he explains. “Here we were becoming more than friends and if she’s feeling bad, here’s this quilt — it’ll help her to feel better.”
He had planned to stay for only a few minutes, but was still there three hours later. That night, they shared their first kiss.
“I got so sick afterward,” he laughs.
They had dated for two years on Dec. 20, 2009, when Christy found a rose taped to her front door after church. An attached poem directed her to another rose. She found 11 roses that way and then she found Tyler, dressed in a suit and standing on a little bridge lighted with candles and holding the 12th rose.
They were married on Dec. 18, 2010, at Mabelvale Church of Christ.
Magician Randall Eller did a linking rings illusion, in place of a unity candle. When the preacher asked if Tyler had a ring, one of his groomsmen released a dove with the ring attached to its foot. The dove allowed them to remove the ring and flew to a waiting cage, and then it was Christy’s turn. One of her bridesmaids tossed her a red rose and Christy pulled Tyler’s ring from its center.
“We wanted it serious because it was a church wedding and we’re both strong Christians,” Christy says, “but we wanted a few more memories to it that people would find amazing.”
Four magicians entertained guests before and after the ceremony, and Christy’s father and Tyler’s stepfather donned clown costumes and made brief appearances, too.
Christy is a fifth-grade teacher at Pulaski Academy; Tyler is a business analyst for Hewlitt Packard.
Tyler and Christy have had a few opportunities to perform magic together on stage since they were married. And they can appreciate the enchanted quality of their relationship.
“We wouldn’t change anything about the way things happened,” she says. “We got to be really good friends along the way.”
Our first kiss was:
She says: “Unexpected. We weren’t really sure at that point.”
He says: “Magical.”
On our wedding day:
She says: “His niece came up to me after the ceremony and said, ‘Aunt Christy!’ – I didn’t have any nieces and nephews, so that was definitely memorable. I’m finally an aunt.”
He says: “I couldn’t stop smiling. I couldn’t take my eyes off Christy and I smiled the entire ceremony.”
My first impression of my future spouse was:
She says: “He keeps following me around. That was so much of our first couple of years, him following me around like a puppy dog. Of course he’s self-confident, he’s masculine, he’s great, but that first couple of years ... ”
He says: “That’s the girl I want to marry.”
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High Profile, Pages 35 on 03/18/2012