‘When you know, you know’: ‘Sparks’ fly for Enterprise natives

It wasn’t exactly love at first sight for Meredith Fuller and Jonathan “Jon” Sparks. But it was darn sure close.

Fuller is the daughter of Mark Fuller of Montgomery and Lisa Fuller of Mountain Brook. She is the granddaughter of the late Kenneth T. and Rebecca Fuller of Enterprise and Ann Boyd of New Brockton and the late Townsend Boyd.

Sparks is the son of Len Sparks of Morris, Ga., and Nancy Sparks of Enterprise. He is the grandson of Frankie Stinson of Dothan and the late Frank Stinson and James Leonard Sparks of Eufaula and the late Peggy James Sparks. 

Fuller lived in Enterprise until she moved to Montgomery at the age of 13. She graduated from Montgomery Academy in 2008 and Ole Miss in 2012.

Sparks graduated from Enterprise High School in 2004 and began his career with Alabama Power at the Enterprise office in 2007. He moved to the Alabama Power office in Auburn in 2011 and in 2014 returned to the Dothan Alabama Power office.

Fuller and Sparks will be married April 8 at Park Crest in Birmingham. The wedding will be in the garden and the reception will be in the carriage house.

Fuller and Sparks grew up with mutual friends, more knowing of each other than knowing each other. “His cousin Elizabeth (Parker) Whitton and I were best friends growing up,” Fuller said. “We took dance together from the time we were about three years old.

“I knew Jon as ‘Elizabeth’s cousin,’ but he was more one of my sister’s friends than mine—he took her to homecoming when they were in high school,” Fuller said.

Fuller and Sparks didn’t see each other for about 10 years after she moved to Mongtomery. She was living then in New York City working for the corporate office of Badgley Mischka. He was living in Enterprise.

The duo reconnected at Whitton’s wedding in March 2015. “I was a bridesmaid and Jon was an usher,” Fuller said. “We reconnected at the rehearsal dinner and have been together ever since.

“I knew he was ‘the one’ about the second week we were dating,” Fuller said. “I just knew.

“Jon came to New York City often and since I lived there, I planned our weekends around all of the restaurants I wanted him to try and we had a blast,” Fuller said. “I moved back to Birmingham in the fall of 2015 and started working for Hibbett in their buying office.

“I guess I’ve known Meredith most of my life,” said Sparks. “Well, I guess it was more known of her rather than actually know her.

“Meredith grew up a close friend of my cousin so I knew who she was but didn’t know her on a personal level,” Sparks said. “But I guess as kids, there’s not too much to actually know.”

Sparks said he does vaguely remember when Fuller moved to Montgomery but it was nearly a decade before they reconnected. “At my cousin’s wedding, Meredith was a bridesmaid. I was single at the time and wasn’t really looking for a relationship, especially one across the country,” Sparks said. “It was the night of the rehearsal dinner and a small band was playing.

“So I asked Meredith to dance. We danced one song and went over to the side and talked the rest of the night,” Sparks said. “The next day when I saw her at the church we picked up where we left off—talking about everything, getting to know each other.

“When the weekend came to an end and Meredith was going to have to go back to New York, I had a pit in my stomach and a million thoughts running through my head,” Sparks said. “I felt like I had to do anything in my will power to give this a chance so I asked her when could I see her again and she replied ‘I was actually thinking about coming back in a few weeks,’ so we got to see each other a few weeks later and it was one of the best times of my life.

“I knew she was the one before that weekend was over,” Sparks said. “The saying ‘When you know, you know,’ is true.

“The first couple of weeks we spent talking non-stop, texting and late night phone calls,” Sparks said. “From the time we woke up until we went to sleep, we were talking—and not much has changed since then.

“But you get to know someone really fast when all you can do is talk,” Sparks said. “I told her I loved her that weekend, after knowing her only a few weeks.

“But after having had so many conversations with her, I felt like I’ve known her my whole life,” he added. “And to be so comfortable around someone that fast, I knew this was special.

Sparks asked Fuller to be his bride while the couple were visiting her mother’s home. “I thought about inviting all of our family and friends but I just wanted it to be the two of us,” Sparks explained. “I thought over and over of how I was going to pull it off and then came up with something simple and perfect.”

Sparks said he didn’t tell anyone of his engagement plan except for Fuller’s mother and brother, who he enlisted to photograph the event.

“I took a half day at work and drove up to Birmingham and was at her mom’s house waiting on her when she got home from work,” Sparks said. “She came out in the back yard and I was there. “I’m glad I did it the way I did because even with it only being us it was surprisingly exhausting to pull off with all the texts and calls before hand,” Sparks said. “But it was perfect.”