by Debbi | Jun 14, 2008 | People, Sandbar Love Stories
I recently discovered another Sandbar love match.
A few weeks ago, I got an email through the website from Shellie at Iowa State, who wanted to order a t-shirt. She explained that she and her boyfriend had met at The Sandbar one year ago, when they were both in Lawrence for a Big 12 conference. They're still together, and they planned to celebrate their anniversary with a trip to Lawrence and The Sandbar.
Tonight was the big night- the one year anniversary of the day they met. I was so excited to get an online order for Sandbar merchandise that instead of just giving them the t-shirt in it's standard ziploc bag, I packaged it in a cute little flip-flop gift bag, complete with leis, beads, sharks, and duck toys. They were thrilled.
A few Shark Attacks, Dirty Bananas, and Pink Flamingos later and I think they were having a good time.
If you and your significant other met at The Sandbar, send me an email. We'd love to hear your story.
by Debbi | Feb 25, 2008 | People, Sandbar Love Stories
And now for the final installment this year of the Sandbar love match stories…This one is from (Chris) Maynard and his lovely wife Brooke.
Brooke and I went to high school together but never really got along that well, I tormented her quite a bit and we had totally different groups osf friends. We had run into each other on and off throughout college via mutual friends but never hung out much. I was working at The Sandbar one night in 2004 when Brooke and some friends came in and we started talking about where we were all working. I had started in the insurance business earlier that year and she was selling real estate in Kansas City at the time, so we exchanged business cards and said we would refer clients to each other.
Brooke sent me a calendar in 2005 from her real estate business with her picture on it, and I hung it in my office. The agent I was working for at the time, DJ, would always come into my office and tell me to call the pretty girl on my calendar. This went on throughout 2005 until July when I was working one weekend night, and Brooke came in for some Bahama Mamas with her best friend. They left with friends on a pub crawl and came back to get their cars after the bar closed. The girls came up as I was leaving and tackled me.
Not long after that I went to Brooke’s house for dinner and a movie and we’ve been together ever since. We got engaged in July, 2006, and held an engagement party at The Sandbar in August, complete with customized pint glasses and leis. 
We went on a cruise and were married on Cinco de Mayo 2007 on a beach in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. DJ performed the ceremony, and several current/former Sandbar employees were in the wedding party (Dave, Tyler, and John). It was a beautiful ceremony filled with lots of Sandbar friends and good times! We followed it up with a reception in Lawrence at the Eldridge Extended, but took pictures at The Sandbar beforehand, and ended the night with a rockin’ after party at our favorite bar!
Read the rest of our love stories: Brad & Jennifer, Matt & Aña, Scotty Mack & Jen, and Dave & Deb. And if you’ve got a story to share, let us know. It doesn’t have to wait for next Valentine’s Day.
by Debbi | Feb 20, 2008 | People, Sandbar Love Stories
My plea for stories about couples who met at The Sandbar must have reached the right people this year, because the stories and pictures are still coming in. So, even though Valentine’s Day is over, I’m going to continue sharing these.
Brad is an old college friend of mine and has been coming to The Sandbar for at least a decade. He moved to Overland Park a long time ago and we don’t see him nearly as much as we used to. Especially now that they have baby Graham. Here’s his story about how he met his wife, Jennifer.
I was at The Sandbar on May 18, 2002 with friends, standing on the bench near the jukebox to get a better view of everyone having fun, swaying to "Brick House." I looked over, caught Jennifer’s eye, and motioned for her to come join me on the bench- and to my surprise, she did! We sat down afterwards and started talking. It turned out we had a lot in common, which made it easy and enjoyable to talk about something other than the weather!
At the end of the night I told her how much fun I’d had and asked if I could call her again. According to Jennifer, I waited the "mandatory three days" before calling to say hi and see if she’d like to go out again. We came back to The Sandbar and things took off from there. I was living in Overland Park, so Fridays were even more fun to look forward to so I could come back to Lawrence to see her.
I proposed at Union Station in 2003, and we were married in October 2004. Three or four of my good friends from college met their spouses there {including me!} so I’m glad it happened to me, too! Thanks for the memories. All the pictures I took over the years will keep them alive. We hope to make it back soon!
Here’s a picture of Brad and Jennifer from their wedding, along with one I found of their earlier days:
Go here to read about Matt & Aña, and here to read about Jen & Scotty Mack.
by Debbi | Feb 14, 2008 | People, Sandbar Love Stories
Happy Valentine’s Day!
In the spirit of love and romance, here’s another Sandbar love match. Aña met Matt here once upon a time, and the rest was history. Here’s what she had to say about their meeting:
I was going to move to London for awhile after college and my friend ended up having to rent out my half of her loft after 9/11 hit and my parents "recommended" that it wasn’t a good idea for me to move overseas. Anyway, a few of us went down to The Sandbar that following Wednesday (lei night) and Matt "lei’d" me. That pretty much consisted of him giving me a lei and ignoring me the rest of the night. My roommate and I decided we loved Wednesdays because there was basically nobody else in the bar so we came back every week. Matt and I’s relationship bloomed over Photo Hunt. I think I sealed the deal when the entire town of Lawrence was shut down for a snow day and I came to the bar in my pajamas and even brought my own blender because yours was broke and he could no longer make a Dirty Banana with ice. That’s commitment. The rest is history and we’ve been together almost six years. I actually have a picture from teh first night we met, because my friends thought it was funny that I was in such a bad mood…
Aña and Matt were married in July a couple years ago in a lovely outdoor ceremony at Circle S Ranch, officiated by none other than Brother Pants. Unfortunately- or fortunately, depending on who you ask, we no longer offer blended Dirty Bananas at The Sandbar, because a blender is an evil torture to a bartender. And they break. Constantly. We do, however, still offer the captivating Photo Hunt for your enjoyment.
by Debbi | Feb 13, 2008 | People, Sandbar Love Stories
I’m so excited to share a "how we met at The Sandbar" story that doesn’t involve me!
Customer and friend Jen heard my pleas for a sweet story and not only did she provide one, but she sent a picture too. Here’s what she had to say about the fateful meeting between she and Scotty Mack:
Well, Scotty Mack and I met in front of the Sandbar jukebox. It was a Wednesday, and I was there with a friend of mine, bemoaning my fate as a single gal. As if on cue (or maybe he was eavesdropping), this guy came up to me and asked me to pick out some songs on the jukebox. I called my best friend from the bathroom telling her a "cute boy" asked for my phone number and she told me to behave myself. Well, I guess I picked out the right songs (Hank, Waylon, and Willie were involved if I remember correctly) because here we are, engaged and happy as clams.
Awwwww. And isn’t that the cutest picture ever? Courtesy of our lovely friend Aña, who has a Sandbar love story of her own that is just begging to be shared with the internet. Come on, don’t be shy.
by Debbi | May 20, 2007 | Events, Sandbar Love Stories
Someone finally decided to get married on our beautiful white sand beach. It only took a year….but it was worth it.
Terry and Kevin wanted a simple beach theme wedding, and they brought a small entourage with them today to The Sandbar. We had a Caribbean version of The Wedding March, and a white feather boa and gloves for the flower girl, and even a minister. Dave performed his fourth wedding ceremony and he’s getting to be pretty good at them. After the wedding, the group mingled downstairs for awhile. The bride even shook her tailfeathers on the bench with Dave and Peach.
If you or someone you know is looking for a fun, unique place to get married, give us a call. We can give you the complete package- ceremony, minister, reception, snacks, drinks, and music. We can take pictures, or videotape, or both. We’ve even got a costume closet in the office if you want feather boas, tiaras, Hawaiian shirts, or pink wigs. Our sandy beach would be perfect for an anniversary vow renewal as well.
Send us an email if you’re interested…and congratulations to Terry and Kevin!
