Mindy + Ben // Married

Meet Mindy and Ben!

I am so glad to be sharing Mindy and Ben’s wedding with you all! I have a big smile on my face just typing this. I was so tickled when Mindy came to me to photograph her wedding day. We graduated high school together so that made it even more of an honor when it came to being the person that captured their wedding day. Not to mention after shooting their engagement session, I just couldn’t be happier Mindy found her other half in life. The way they simply smiled at one another was something else!

Their wedding was originally supposed to be at her family farm, but Tropical Storm Joaquin had different plans for everyone that day/weekend. However, their AMAZING family and friends didn’t give up on making sure their wedding happened. They were able to pull all of their resources together and have the wedding moved to a local church in which everything turned out PERFECT! I was so happy for that and even happier that it stopped raining just as we were scheduled to do their portraits. If that’s not a God thing, I don’t know what is!

When and where did you both meet?

We met at the church we attend (Perrow’s Chapel) about three or four years ago, when Mindy’s family started going there. We didn’t really communicate a whole lot until a couple months before dating, but later discovered that there were mutual feelings before then.

When did you know he was the one and vice versa?

Mindy: I remember one of the first times I was really impressed by Ben (before we were dating) was when my family was invited to their house for a meal and he made sure he thanked his mom after the meal. My parents had taught us that you can tell a lot about how a guy will treat his wife by how he treats his mom/how respectful he is to her. So even though a simple “Thank you for the meal.” seems like such a small thing, it spoke volumes to me!

As far as knowing he was the guy I wanted to marry, I was pretty sure of that soon after we started dating. :) I liked him for a while, and hoped and prayed maybe he would notice me, but didn’t think I stood a chance.

Ben: Pretty much right away.

What’s the one thing you both love each other the most for?

Mindy: I love Ben’s desire to serve God and help others. He has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I’ve ever met.

Ben: I love Mindy’s love for God and cooking abilities.

How did he propose?

We had gone on quite a few dates at Edmunds Park and loved taking supper and eating on the dock there. February 19, we had a date planned. It had snowed a day or so before, so there was still snow on the ground. I texted Ben to see what I should wear because I didn’t know if we were going to be outside or inside for whatever he had planned. He replied that we would be outside for part of the evening and inside for part. Unfortunately I tend to think through things so I was trying the whole evening to figure out what he had planned.

After work, he came to my house and he sat and talked with my parents for a little bit, and didn’t seem rushed at all. Then we left and all of a sudden, we were in a hurry. This confused me more. I asked if we were headed to Edmunds Park and he wouldn’t tell me, but I knew it was probably either there or a friend’s house because those are the only places we went to in that direction. I figured it was Edmunds Park because it was unusual for him to be in that big of a hurry, but Edmunds Park closes at sunset….and I was correct. We got to Edmunds and we walked down to the dock. I believe he said something about wanting to watch the sun set. (It was very pretty setting over the snow with the ducks walking around over the pond. )

So then we stood there and talked and watched the sun go down. I mentioned that since we took our first picture there, we should take another one as a memory of that time. I took pictures of the sun setting and we talked some more. Then I asked if he wanted to sit down and he told me he was fine, but I could sit down. So I ended up sitting down, and then he let me know that he had a question for me…so we weren’t just there to watch the sun set. Then he popped the question. Afterwards, we spread the news to our families, and we went to Drugstore Grill in Brookneal and ate supper. (I had been wanting to go there, but hadn’t found a time that would suit when they were open.)

Any other special things you would like to mention about you two or the wedding?

Tropical Storm Joaquin set in around our wedding and we had to move our outside wedding indoors and adjust our plans with less than a week to work with. We were extremely thankful for the way God worked everything out to make it an amazing wedding despite the changes that had to take place. With the help of family and friends with decorating, making food, and the many other projects that had to be done, we were able to get everything ready in time, and we loved our wedding! We are so thankful for everyone that pitched in to make our ceremony great and for Heather Chipps Photography braving the storm to give us amazing pictures to remember the day by!

[divider]

virginia wedding photographer_0176