We're Celebrating Our Marriage..Finally!

Our love story began in Raleigh, North Carolina. Jessie had just finished a workout at the gym alongside her friend Megan. While sitting at the dining room table, Megan, out of the blue, pulls up an Instagram picture of Ben and says "Jessie, I think you would really like this guy. He's very nice, but he also plays baseball and has really nice biceps. That is definitely your type." The picture showcased Ben in a cut off t-shirt with blue jeans, cowboy boots, and a baseball hat. The baseball hat and muscular upper body physique caught Jessie's attention right away. However, if you knew Jessie, you knew that she was very uncertain about the cowboy boots and the huge chew that was occupying Ben's entire left side of his mouth. After some back and forth banter and a lesson on not judging a book by its cover, numbers were exchanged and a first date took place a couple days later. It was only a few weeks until the couple made it official, and their whirlwind romance began. For those who are curious, Ben still wears his cowboy boots regularly, but he no longer has that huge chew in his mouth :) And! Jessie even owns a pair of cowboy boots now :) After two and a half years together, we can’t wait to tie the knot and start our happily ever after!

It took some convincing (it had been pouring rain all day), but Ben finally convinced Jessie to hop in the car and ride with him to the Duke Gardens before their already planned sushi date. It was an activity they usually did together once or twice a year when the weather was nice. Before leaving the house, Ben suggested Jessie change into something a little nicer than her athletic shorts and t-shirt. This wasn't suspicious to Jessie because they were going to dinner afterwards. During the car ride to Durham, Ben was talking about some pretty off the wall things, but Jessie didn't really think anything of it at the time. They parked the car and headed towards the entrance to the gardens. They first walked to their favorite spot under the pergola and then continued to walk down towards the big fish pond. While at the fish pond, Ben suggested they walk back up to the pergola to get pictures to send to his family (who had already seen and walked around the Duke Gardens). Jessie, of course, questions why they have to go back to where they just came from, but then agrees to walk back around. When they reached the pergola (for the second time), Ben grabbed Jessie's hand and proceeded to get down on one knee. He popped the question and Jessie immediately said "Yes, of course." Meanwhile, two of their good friends had popped out from behind the bushes they had been hiding in. To Jessie's surprise, Ben managed to arrange it so they would be there to take pictures during the proposal. Jessie, still to this day, questions how Ben managed to keep this all a secret. She truly had no idea it was going to happen!