Still the One

Life’s ups and downs couldn’t keep fate from working her magic on two love-struck West Virginians.

Tressa Renee Wood & Joseph Allen Deavers
Bruceton Mills | 06.03.23

PHOTOGRAPHED BY Abby Hart Photography
WRITTEN BY Taylor maple

Not every love story is simple or straightforward. Life throws curveballs, and all we can do is size them up as they sail toward us and swing at them as best we can. If we’re lucky—or if we just can’t let that one person go—everything works out in the end, even if it takes a while. And we’ll appreciate it that much more when it does.

Joseph Deavers and Tressa Wood know this well. After meeting at a party in 2010, they dated on and off for years. For whatever reason, things never quite lined up the way they needed for the two of them to stick together for good. But they were never far from each other’s minds, and it seems that fate never forgot them either. After nearly a decade of weaving together and then back apart, something told Tressa to reach out. She had moved from West Virginia to Hawaii and was visiting home when she knew she needed to see Joey.

“I just had this overwhelming urge to hang out with him,” she says. “And I just realized how much I missed being here.” Joey wasn’t dating anyone else at the time and hadn’t since Tressa left for Hawaii. Deep down, he believed that she’d be back and they’d have another chance. “Lots of things were stacked against us,” Tressa says. “But we made it happen either way.”

A few years after they decided on each other for good, Joey and Tressa took the next big step in a spot that was special to both of them.

“One of my favorite dates when we were younger is that we would always go four-wheel riding by the headwaters of Cheat Lake,” Tressa says. “So he took me riding, and we went to this really beautiful spot.” Joey says it wasn’t hard to pick this spot for such a monumental moment. “I think I always knew,” he says. “That was the place we hung out the most when we first started dating, and she enjoys it.” Tressa knew something was coming even before he popped the question that day—it’s hard to pull a fast one on her. But that didn’t take any of the magic away. She agreed to be his wife surrounded by the West Virginia hills, waterfalls, and memories the two of them had made there over the years. After the roller coaster of their journey together, a proposal so simple and sweet just felt right.

By the time they were engaged, Joey and Tressa had spent enough of their lives not being husband and wife—the wedding was scheduled for June 2023, less than a year after the September 2022 proposal. The event took place on a family farm, and the duo DIY’d just about everything they could with the help of family and friends. A giant, clear-roofed tent sat on the land awaiting their reception. From its heights hung greenery cut from a neighbor’s yard and an array of globe lights that Joey custom-built himself. Craft cocktails were to be served out of a 1970s horse trailer that had belonged to an uncle and been renovated into a mobile bar, and so many other thoughtful, sentimental details went into creating an elegant, timeless, woodsy venue that struck the perfect mood for the big day. Joey and Tressa were exhausted from prep by the time the wedding finally arrived, but nothing could dull their excitement for what was to come.

Just before the ceremony, the universe gave them one more gift. A gentle rain swept through the area, cooling down the summer heat and neutralizing the dust that would have otherwise kicked up from the gravel road where the bride was set to be driven to the aisle in her grandfather’s 1967 Chevelle. Then, as quickly as it came, the rain was gone, leaving them perfect weather with which to continue the day.

Tressa stepped out of the car and walked down the aisle to a piano rendition of “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” In keeping with the sweet and simple vibe, there was no bridal party—attention remained lovingly focused on the couple. Tressa’s aunt performed the ceremony, sharing perfect words about each of them. “To know Tressa is to have your faith in humanity restored, but to be loved by her is to have faith in yourself restored,” she said during her speech. “Those lucky enough to have felt it will tell you no one has a bigger heart than Joseph. And no animal knows a gentler hand. He’s the kind of quiet, steadfast giant you read about in stories. Together, their love is stronger, deeper, and bigger than anything that lies ahead of them.”

They repeated vows to each other with a few tears of joy, and then the party began. Appetizers were served throughout the night, old friends and new friends gathered together, and the music never stopped. “My favorite part was to see everybody get out on the dance floor and have a good time,” Joey says. “The older people who couldn’t walk very good, people in wheelchairs—everybody. I like watching people enjoy themselves.”

The couple hit the floor, too. Their first dance together as husband and wife, fittingly, was to Shania Twain’s “You’re Still The One.” After all these years, the ups and downs, time apart and time together, they had landed exactly where they were supposed to be: together. Looks like they made it, indeed.