Must love dogs
Bound by a love of tennis and rescue pets, couple ties the knot
Evan Scheele will never forget the moment he laid eyes on Kimberly Falgout, the cool blonde who would become his wife.
He remembers the white dress she wore to Camerata at Paulie’s, a popular Montrose wine bar for promising first dates, one Monday in March 2016. And he remembers their nearinstant connection. Right off the bat, the pair uncovered a shared sense of humor, hobbies and love for rescue animals, tennis and chardonnay.
So Evan suggested they order a bottle. Kimberly demurred.
“I said, ‘Let’s start with a glass,’ ” she recalled with a laugh. “I didn’t want to be tied down — just in case.”
Her date was already hooked. Evan says he knew halfway — “really, within the first three minutes” — that he wanted to see her again and immediately began planning their next outing.
“He asked me on our second date while we were still on our first,” Kimberly said. “That’s when tennis came up. He was convinced he could challenge me, but that wasn’t the case.”
Evan, 32, plays recreationally at the Downtown Club at the Met, where Kimberly, 29, played competitively as a child.
Like her parents, Jo Lynn and Gregg Falgout, Kimberly was born on Galveston Island. The family eventually moved to Clear Lake and later River Oaks. Kimberly and her sister, Christine Falgout-Gutknecht, often settled their “healthy sibling rivalry” on the tennis court.
“I played in state tournaments and for our school,” explained Kimberly, who graduated from Second Baptist School. “It sounds boring, but that and studying were pretty much my life.”
In other words, Evan never stood a chance.
“She beat me pretty thoroughly,” the Memorial High School alum conceded. “I was impressed by how good she is. Playing a sport like that and having her on the other side of the net … that’s when I realized Kimberly was special. And we shared kind of an awkward sweaty kiss that we still joke about.”
Their third date, however, proved the charm.
Brunch at Backstreet Cafe, and then Evan would meet Kimberly’s dogs — that was the plan. He even made sure to have his car cleaned before picking up his crush.
Securing a stamp of approval from Kimberly’s “fur babies” was important, though she tried to manage her excitement. Fortunately, Evan exceeded every expectation.
“It was one of those things where you think you’ll just sit for an hourand-a-half, and then you wind up spending the whole day together,” she said.
“We went back to her house, which was not what I was expecting,” Evan acknowledged. One of Kimberly’s rescue dogs has special needs. “I thought they were quite the hilarious crew.”
In that moment, he felt Kimberly really open up. And she sensed a sincerity in Evan that her made comfortable.
Both work for their respective family-owned oil-and-gas companies. Kimberly serves as inhouse counsel for Island Operating, and Evan is Secor Houston’s vice president. Each has one sibling and grew up with dogs.
By Memorial Day weekend, Evan was ready for a pet of his own.
“He was planning on going to a breeder and getting a goldendoodle, and that’s when I gave him my animal-rescue lecture,” Kimberly said. While a freshman at Southern Methodist University (where Kimberly also obtained her law degree), she’d volunteered with the Dallas Humane Society to fulfill her sorority’s community-service hours. “I saw that shelter dogs didn’t have the greatest standard of living and learned that it’s less important to have the perfect white fluffball when there are amazing dogs that don’t have homes.”
For weeks, the couple exchanged photos of rescue dogs for Evan to consider. And then he met Finn.
“I don’t know if Kimberly knew that the dog I adopted two months after we started dating would become part of her family,” Evan chuckled.
Much of that first year was spent traveling; there were trips to Aspen, Colo., for July 4 with the Falgouts, Los Angeles and San Diego to see Evan’s family and several out-of-town weddings to celebrate his Tulane University buddies as well.
Around New Year’s Eve 2017, Evan was contemplating marriage, too.
“I just kind of asked myself, ‘Where is this going?’ ” he said. “I knew she was the ‘one,’ and there was no reason to postpone the inevitable.”
The couple discussed tying the knot, and with a European cruise on the calendar in June and July, Kimberly suspected that’s when her beau might pop the question. Evan had other ideas. He dropped down on bended knee in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and presented his future bride with one of her mother’s diamond rings.
“A band was serenading our table overlooking the cliffs. I kind of blacked out from nervousness,” he confessed. “Once I asked her to marry me, it was definitely a blur, this state of bliss. I just felt indescribable happiness and was so thrilled that she said ‘yes.’ ”
Kimberly admits to setting up a private Pinterest page of dream wedding gowns on the very day Evan hinted he might propose.
“I think the day I got engaged, my mom called Joan Pillow,” Kimberly said of the designer bridal boutique where she fell in love with the second dress she tried on.
Over the next year, mother and daughter met for weekly coffee dates to brainstorm the wedding scheme. Once they settled on gold, white and pink décor, ideas started flowing.
“There’s something special about my parents’ home,” the bride said. “They built it, so everything really screams ‘Jo Lynn and Gregg.’ And my sister got married there, so it was important to keep the tradition.”
Lavandula Design created glittering invitations to set a festive tone. The Events Company’s Richard Flowers built a rose-covered backdrop that breathed romance into Kimberly and Evan’s custom tent erected in the Falgouts’ backyard.
On March 2, the couple’s nearest and dearest toasted their union at the Dunlavy overlooking Buffalo Bayou Park.
“There’s no other place like it, with the chandeliers and greenery,” Kimberly said. Now, those rehearsal-dinner speeches and slideshow are some of her favorite memories from the wedding weekend. “You have these people that you love and care about, but to have them stand up on your behalf is really special. That, and seeing Evan cry the whole time.”
Tears continued well into the next day when the bride and groom said, “I do.”
“You wait your lifetime to get married, so finally walking down that aisle and being pronounced husband and wife was a moment I’ll never forget,” Evan said. “The most surreal five minutes of my life.”
Following a two-week honeymoon abroad in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Maldives, the newlyweds resumed business as usual: rescuing animals.
“I’ve only spent a couple hours with Bertha, who just had puppies, but she’s the latest addition,” Evan said from Denver on business. “We’re able to pick that up again.”
Finally, he’s scored a match point.