For Aaron and Sara Ellis, the National Storytelling Festival will forever be a part of their love story. The couple became engaged in Jonesborough in 2009 during a trip to the Festival.
The proposal happened October 3, 2009 around a breakfast table at the Hawley House B&B in Jonesborough ― the storytelling capital of the world. Though Aaron and Sara had traveled to Jonesborough to hear tales from across the globe, it was Aaron’s turn to tell a story. There, with friends and family gathered, Aaron got down on one knee and asked Sara to be his wife.
When planning the proposal, Aaron, who has attended the Festival with his family since 1991, could think of no place or time more special and endearing than Jonesborough. “I wanted it to be something that we could celebrate every year, a renewal so to speak,” he said.
For Sara, whose first trip to the Festival was the year of the proposal, Jonesborough was the perfect place for Aaron to pop the question. “I’ve always loved Tennessee,” she said. Aaron knew Sara made frequent trips to Tennessee to visit family when she was younger. “He also knew that I would love Jonesborough, storytelling, and the Butterfly Cottage where we stayed. He made this wonderful place and these amazing traditions a part of the rest of my life, and that’s special.”
Aaron and Sara, who plan to return to Jonesborough each October for the National Storytelling Festival, “feel blessed that we have a lifetime ahead of early autumn trips to Tennessee. Every year we have a place to go and relish in the inception of our marriage and share our story.”