It all started how any 4th of July would: in Ireland, celebrating Maria’s parents’ 35th wedding anniversary. The two of us along with the Hayden parents were venturing up the Cliffs of Moher on a blustery day. The wind was whipping! Little did Maria know, the wind wouldn’t be the only thing to knock her off her feet! As we neared a very steep part of the trail, Ben took Maria’s hand and said “this way” and tried to lead Maria off the safety of the path. Maria said, “absolutely not” as she was not about to go off roading on a windy cliff. But Ben insisted so off they went. As they were climbing up a steep rocky formation, the wind was deafening. Maria was low-key panicking and looked back down to the trail to make sure her parents were okay. Lo and behold, she did not see her parents on the trail…her dad was clambering up the rocky embankment behind her and her mom was climbing up the rocky embankment in front of her. Maria started screaming, “what are you people doing?? Get yaselves back to safety!!!” Then, Ben grabbed Maria’s hand and said “come this way”…this way aka a cliff on top of a cliff. Once again, Maria said, “absolutely not” but Ben got her there eventually. Then, it all made sense. With his AirPods in to block the wind, Ben got down on one knee and proposed. Maria was in shock and her jaw hit the ground as the was putting all of the puzzle pieces together. Maria obviously said yes and the rest is history! Later that night, Ben and Maria were talking and Maria said, “what’s today’s date? I need to remember the proposal anniversary.” Upon realizing that it was, in fact, the Fourth of July, the two burst out laughing and deemed that all of their wedding celebrations need to stick wit the theme and be held on obscure holidays. That’s why they eloped on April Fools Day and are having their reception on Halloween.

On April 1, 2025, Ben and Maria eloped at Shenandoah River State Park. The elopement began with a walk through the peaking bluebells on a trail next to the Shenandoah River. It was so serene and beautiful. After that, Maria’s sister and brother-in-law showed up to seal the deal. Kellie signed the marriage license while Mike wrangled the dogs. Kellie and Mike continued to wrangle the dogs while Maria and Ben went to their private picnic set up in a bluebell meadow. It was absolutely magical!! After the picnic, Ben and Maria took to the canoe and went paddling down the river. Unfortunately, both of them didn’t know how canoes work and somehow Maria ended up in the back. We soon figured out (after crashing multiple times) that it’s the person in the back with who is actually steering. We learned that the hard way. It was still so much fun though! Once the canoeing adventure was over, we drove to Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park and took pictures at a few overlooks. Last but not least, we went to The Point overlook to read our vows and catch the sunset. The whole day was bright, sunny and on the cooler side which then culminated in the most magical sunset to cap off the elopement day.