Anna Elkins and Jakob Nielsen’s love traveled across the globe before the pair chose to settle down in Chapel Hill
By Megan Tillotson | Photography by Kelley Deal Photography
Anna Elkins and Jakob Nielsen’s love story began in October 2014 when Jakob was studying at UNC for his semester abroad.
He returned home to Copenhagen, Denmark, and the pair began 2 1⁄2 years of long-distance dating. In July 2017, Anna moved from her native Chapel Hill to Copenhagen where they both completed graduate programs at Copenhagen Business School.
On March 1, 2019, the last night of a family ski vacation in the Italian Alps, Jakob knelt in the snow to propose. “Jakob had the ring in his backpack the whole week,” Anna says. “We went for a walk around a frozen pond, we were all alone, and it was magical.”
Despite moving their wedding date four times due to the pandemic, the couple was married at the Governors Club Clubhouse on April 9, 2022. Anna and her bridesmaids spent the night before at The Carolina Inn, while Jakob stayed with his family in a house across from the venue. The wedding party included Anna’s sister and maid of honor, Taylor Elkins, friend Maggie Denny, and Anna’s brother, Hanson Elkins.
Memorable moments from the reception included when Jakob’s mother, Margit Staum Kaltoft, penned her own lyrics to the tune of “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean,” and guests joined in to sing her version. Later Anna’s family, including her parents, Rod Elkins and Chatham Magazine’s Chris Elkins, gave a speech outlining the stages of her life. The couple had their first dance to “At Last” by Etta James, and Anna says, “Jakob and I got lost in the song, and it ended up being four minutes long!” The couple had a wedding cake from Durham-based Capital Cakes and a traditional dessert in Denmark known as “Kransekage” from Coco’s Bake Shop in Asheville.
Anna and Jakob live in Chapel Hill. She works at Duke Energy as a communications consultant, and he works for IBM as a solutions consultant.
If you live in Chatham County, North Carolina, or are from here and you’d like your engagement featured in Chatham Magazine, please fill out this form in its entirety.
