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Nacho Average Wedding: A Truly Mobile Love Story

By Marissa ManciniMay 13, 2020

Piled high with all the fixings for a perfect romance — a corgi, a ring and a gathering of friends — two T-Mobile employees create a memorable (pandemic-proof) wedding.

By Marissa Mancini

T-Mobile employees Logan Gabriel and Nik Pearson (center) pull off the perfect socially distanced wedding

Native Minnesotan Nik Pearson and military brat Logan Gabriel met three years ago, ​working for T-Mobile retail operations in Minnesota.

Logan worked as a mobile event expert, a staffer on one of many T-Mobile trucks bringing magenta swag and mobile help on wheels to events across the region. Nik’s position as a retail store manager required plenty of involvement with the local market, so her path crossed with Logan’s often. The two became friendly, and then friends.

Then, during the 2017 holiday retail rush, Nik began to see Logan in a different​ way.

“After his shift on Saturday before Christmas, Logan left work and went to the mall for some last-minute Christmas presents, and stopped in to say hi,” Nik says. “We were so busy, and without even skipping a beat, he dropped his shopping bags in the back and clocked in to help since he was still in uniform. I was blown away at his selflessness to help out on the busiest shopping day of the year — after he already worked his own shift! It wasn't until a few months later that we started dating, but at that point, I knew he was something special!”

The relationship progressed, their love grew, and in 2019 they decided to start a new chapter in their lives — first by adding a furry family member, then, with a wedding.

“We always joked that if Nik got me a corgi, I’d get her a ring,” Logan said, “but we didn’t have any plans to add a dog to our family for some time.” When a friend’s family emergency last spring led to an urgent need to rehome a corgi, though? “We raised our hands immediately.”

The 12-hour drive from Minnesota to Kentucky to pick up the dog proved 12 hours too long for Logan to uphold the original deal. “Right before we hit the road,” he says, “I surprised her with a ring and a proposal. I actually had it planned for some time, but I just couldn’t wait those last 12 hours before we got the dog!” In the end, by the first of May 2019, the couple had both a new family member — everyone: meet Jazzy! — and their engagement. Logan and Nik immediately started planning a wedding as quirky and cute as the couple themselves.

Planning a wedding is a major undertaking for most, but a few months later, Nik and Logan were also planning a move. She accepted a promotion to a senior trainer position with T-Mobile in Florida, and the fall timing of the shift inspired Logan to swap out his freewheeling events role for the stable schedule of a traditional T-Mobile retail store location, and began taking classes towards a bachelor’s degree using T-Mobile’s tuition assistance program. Settled in, they picked back up their wedding planning efforts — and started considering “destinations.”

“We’re both pretty laid-back, non-traditional people,” Nik says. “So when Logan mentioned the Taco Bell Cantina wedding chapel in Las Vegas, I was totally on board! Especially since we now live 1,600 miles away from our family, we thought it would be a fun way to get us all together again.”

The special sauce behind Logan and Nik’s romance

They booked the Cantina for April 26, just shy of a year since their engagement. But their best-laid plans were no match for COVID-19. One month to the day before their Big Day, the Taco Bell Cantina reached out to let the couple know they’d need to cancel the ceremony, and offered a virtual alternative. Undeterred, Nik and Logan knew they could figure out a way to have a three-dimensional wedding (still starring Taco Bell).

“We wanted to make sure we were following social distancing rules, and decided on a parking lot wedding with our T-Mobile family, in front of the store that Logan has been supporting for the last six weeks,” Nik says. “A couple phone calls to our market director, photographer friend and one very large Taco Bell online order, we pulled it off! One of the retail associate managers​ from Logan’s store even played guitar for us!”

Friend Julio Cova performs a socially distanced serenade for the newlyweds

“I was stoked to be part of such an amazing wedding,” says that manager, Julio Cova. “I wanted to help create perfect memories for them.” So, on the same day as their originally planned ceremony, Nik walked down the makeshift “aisle” to “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran. Afterwards, the parking lot was filled with dancing — at least six feet apart — to “Truly Madly Deeply” by Savage Garden. “After the ceremony ended, Nik told me that Logan always wanted a friend to play guitar at his wedding. I was blown away, and I thought, ‘mission accomplished!’”

David Lebron, a T-Mobile retail sales manager and interim leader at the temporary location Logan’s been supporting during the pandemic (T-Mobile closed many locations and employees volunteered to drive in to staff a critical mass of open locations to support social distancing), agreed that the event was a success. “To be honest, I initially wasn’t sure how it would go,” David said. “What I was sure of is how much fun they make any room they’re in, and how much they love each other — I knew the rest would work itself out.”

Although David and his family attended the wedding from their car for safety’s sake, he maintains that “the spirit of the event was incredible and there was an overwhelming feeling of joy,” and that tears were shed.

Nik’s manager, Gayle Eberhardt-Mitchell, who drove across the Sunshine State to celebrate with the pair, was equally touched: “They created a memorable event that was safe and special to attend.”

“These two,” David says of Nik and Logan, “are perfect for each other. And if they’re half as good at being husband and wife as they are at being coworkers, they’re in for a long and very happy marriage.”

The couple had originally envisioned their honeymoon as a tropical two-week trip to Ecuador, but given the current circumstances in the world, the creative couple even has a backup plan for that. Says Nik: “We have an inflatable kiddie pool on our patio — and each other.”

T-Mobile alum and former colleague Clayton Nichols of JCNichols Photography photographed the couple’s one-of-a-kind wedding.