The Barn at the Springs

Wedding Day

Wedding

Reception

Our Wedding

A lot of people wonder how we connected 3 years after we graduated college considering we never even really knew each other in college. I'll start from the beginning. We both attended Ouachita Baptist University for 3 years together (Fall of 2011- Spring of 2014). I was a sophomore when Tyler started college. Yes, I am less than a year older than Tyler- 361 days to be exact, but who's counting&nbsp;;) When he started college I&nbsp;had no idea who he was. He grew up in Benton, AR&nbsp;and I&nbsp;grew up in Northwest AR so we had never crossed paths before. I&nbsp;was in one of the social clubs at Ouachita (Tri Chi) at the time. My sophomore year and his freshman year I don't think we interacted at all. We just didn't know each other. During my junior year Tyler became a Tri Chi beau! Which for those non Ouachitonians is basically a guy that is friends with a lot of the girls in the social club that helps at our events and is invited to most everything we do (outings, mixers, etc.). So now we are both in the same space a lot because he is at all of the same things that I&nbsp;am at for Tri Chi (there are only about 100 girls in the club so it was a small enough group to know of everyone there). I&nbsp;remember seeing him but I really don't remember ever having a conversation with him during any of my years in college although it is very possible we were in some group conversation at some point. The only thing I really remember about Tyler from college is that he was a good singer, he was a Tri Chi beau, and sometimes we would respond to each other's tweets on Twitter (which now looking back at those Tweets I can see how similar our sense of humor is). Once I&nbsp;graduated I didn't think I would ever hear from Tyler since we didn't really know each other. Last March&nbsp;(2018) I received a Facebook message from him. This is 4 years after I've been out of college and 3 years since for him. So I was very surprised to see his name pop up on my Facebook and was wondering why he was messaging me (remember, we never really talked in college and we hadn't talked once since graduating, so you can see why I was surprised!) Tyler had moved to NWA in the fall (2017- so he had been living here for several months) and his first message was him just saying hi and asking how I was doing. Considering I have gone on very few dates in my life and never had a boyfriend I was very skeptical at first of his intentions with messaging me (I&nbsp;wasn't really looking for a guy friend at this point in my life- I&nbsp;was more just ready to find the guy I'm supposed to marry and I just wasn't sure what he was going for with his message). I responded kindly and updated him a little bit on my life since college and asked him how everything had been going for him. We messaged back and forth a couple times just catching up on life a little bit and then he told me that he wanted to hang out with me sometime. My first thought was that he was probably messaging a lot of people asking to hang out since he was still trying to get connected to people in this area. So, I of course recommended getting a group together to hang out! A lot of guys at this point would assume I wasn't interested in hanging out one on one and settle for the group hang out. But, Tyler isn't like most guys!&nbsp;He said that would be fun BUT that he really wanted to spend some time with just me! I was very surprised. This did help to make his intentions clear though.&nbsp;I was really unsure about it though because I just didn't really know him! I told him I&nbsp;was pretty busy and I would get back to him (I&nbsp;know, I know I was just trying to delay things but I was nervous!) I didn't message him for awhile but one day he messaged me again and said that he would still really like to hang out with me and asked for my NUMBER! So bold! But you know what, I&nbsp;gave it to him! But I was still delaying hanging out and again told him I&nbsp;had just been really busy. We again didn't talk for a little while. Then, the day that changed everything. It was my birthday&nbsp;(April 6th, 4 days after his)!&nbsp;He text me Happy Birthday first thing that morning!! How nice is that, a guy I&nbsp;barely knew text me Happy Birthday first thing in the morning. I was surprised! He asked me how my birthday was so far. Now I&nbsp;truly believe this was a God thing. Earlier that morning my mom had gotten in a pretty bad car wreck. I took off of work and brought her to the hospital because she needed staples and a sling and a few other things. So it had been kind of a rough start to my birthday!&nbsp;When he asked how many birthday had been so far I&nbsp;asked myself if I&nbsp;should say "Good!" which wouldn't be the full truth or be honest and tell him how tough of a day it had been so far. I don't know what prompted me (Jesus) but I decided to be honest. I told him all about my morning and how hard it had been and that I&nbsp;was sitting at the hospital etc. He was SO KIND. He empathized with me, he asked if there's anything he could do to help, he prayed for me and my mom and then he text me that evening and the following days to ask how my mom was doing. Wow. I&nbsp;had never met a guy before that pursued me that hard with such a boldness and then inserted himself into my life even in the hard stuff right away. He showed me Christ from day 1! That day changed my nervousness. I&nbsp;knew that I&nbsp;needed to say yes to going on a date with him. So I text him and told him a day that I was available. He was so excited haha. We decided on mini golf and a snow cone. Pulling up to Gator Golf I was pretty nervous. I had no idea what to expect! Were we going to have things to say to each other?? Or would it be awkward?? We got out of our cars and he gave me a hug. We started walking up to the entrance and Tyler tripped a little bit (hoping I&nbsp;didn't see, but I&nbsp;did) and it kind of broke the ice haha. I knew he was nervous too. From the moment that date started to several hours later we had so much to talk about and I can't even tell you how much we laughed. He made me laugh so much. After the date was over I&nbsp;knew this time was different. We were both so ready to go on another date. Our second date? He met my parents haha. He didn't mind at all! And you know what? THEY LOVED HIM. I just felt like he could really be the one!&nbsp;By the second date!&nbsp;So crazy. We spent our summer apart for a lot of it because I was working at camp (I saw him about once a week) and that was hard! I&nbsp;missed him a lot! But we made it through and it was a great time of growth for both of us.&nbsp;Our first date was April 28th, he asked me to officially be his girlfriend May 18th, we said "I love you" for the first time to each other on June 30th, and he proposed on October 27th! You might be thinking, wow that is fast! But when you're both in your mid twenties and you've both been waiting for just the right person your whole life (neither of us had ever had a significant other and&nbsp;never had our first kiss- which I still LOVE that fact) and you FIND that person..you marry them!!! There's not a question in my mind that Tyler is the guy that the Lord set aside for me since the day I was born. He makes me laugh until I&nbsp;cry several times a week. He has the most caring and tender heart that makes me feel valued and loved at all times of the day. He treats my family (immediate and extended) like his own. He stood by me through some really hard times this summer when my grandma was in hospice and passed away. He loves the Lord and shows me that through his actions daily. I could go on and on but all I&nbsp;know is that I am SO THANKFUL God brought me Tyler and that I decided to wait on a guy like him to come into my life. I CAN'T WAIT WAIT TO MARRY YOU TYLER JORDAN DAVIS!&nbsp;

You Were the One All Along- Chelsea's Perspective

This is a story about patience (often impatience), God's perfect plan and how&nbsp;sometimes sliding into the DM's isn't the worst thing in the world. My whole life I had this idea of what woman God had out there for me. I often daydreamed about what she looked like, what kind of personality she had, if she'd love sports as much as I do (impossible), etc. There were a few times when&nbsp;I thought maybe I had met a girl with similar qualities to what I was looking for, but time and again, for one reason or another, things fell through. But God knew.&nbsp;Going to Ouachita and failing to find my&nbsp;soulmate often made me feel like I might be #foreveralone. But God knew. Little did I know, that even though I didn't have a ring by spring moment, God's plan was already in action during my four wonderful years in Arkadelphia. Chelsea and I, to my knowledge, never really spoke in college&nbsp;despite being involved in the same social club, active in the same circles and even posing in some of the same group photos. I knew who she was and occasionally interacted with her on Twitter (more often than we even realized in hindsight&nbsp; =&nbsp;God's plan *Drake voice*).&nbsp;I moved up to Fayetteville to officially figure out what the next step would be in my career/education, and I was still very single. Now, I can't really tell you what moved me to reach out to Chels, but I can tell you that it was 100% Jesus. I didn't know Chelsea that well, but I thought she was cute, could tell we had similar values and senses of humor based on social media and knew she lived in NWA. So, I did what every ingenious ladies man would do, I messaged her on Facebook. Now, I don't necessarily advise always going for a direct message, but being bold is key, fellas. I was a little leery of coming on too strong from the get-go because I knew it was quite out of the blue, so I tried to just be nice and see how she had been since we had last&nbsp;hovered near each other in the Dirty Delph. From the very first message (praises that she responded), I could tell she was different. Her personality and sweetness and purity shined through even in a simple text. Talking with her was fantastic. Conversation was easy and she never made me feel like I was a burden or unworthy of response. Now, I will say, things looked a little bleak at first. I could tell she was hesitant after my suggestion that we should hang out and even after I successfully snagged those digits, but I could also tell she was worth pursuing. And boy, was I right. After a groundbreaking conversation on her birthday, things changed and she finally agreed to hang out with me. Score!!&nbsp;Before we even went on our first date, she sent me a long list (one of the most detailed I've ever seen) of ideas of things we could do....I liked this girl. We eventually settled on mini golf and snow cones, simple yet fun. Those of you that know me well probably won't be surprised to hear that not even a minute into the date, I tripped on the bridge at Gator Golf. I hoped like heck that she didn't notice, but I later found out (like months later), she did. Our time together that day was so easy and felt so right. Neither of us ever felt forced or uncomfortable. This could be the real thing. I met her parents very quickly. Like, second date quickly. I spent the whole day with them, grilling out, talking, covering baseball. Family is HUGE to both of us, and that day definitely solidified what I had been thinking: this could be my girl.&nbsp;From there, God continued to assure both of us and send us signs that we may actually&nbsp;be soulmates - from the fact that we can laugh all day at Spongebob quotes, we both hate and love all the same foods (who likes Vinegar anyway?) and we both have had eerily similar dating pasts. Chelsea and I are a funny couple in that we were both incredibly and equally inexperienced when we met. Finding two 20-somethings that have yet to kiss anyone is very rare these days, but I love it so much. Getting to experience firsts with Chelsea now and forever has and always will be the greatest. But it also made for some funny moments. Because we're both so inexperienced, we're both very open and honest (Chelsea&nbsp;especially)&nbsp;about how we're feeling about everything. It was very clear when we wanted to hold hands, when it was time for the first&nbsp;kiss and that we'll never eat at Steak and Shake (she hates it). Even more-so, we were both very much on the same page about when we fell in love. It happened fast, way faster than I ever thought possible, but it was clear as day. I was sitting in a restaurant in&nbsp;Omaha, Nebraska while&nbsp;covering the College World Series and tearing up as I texted my mom that I had found the love of my life. Funny enough, Chelsea had already had that same conversation with her mom that same day. When I got home, we both couldn't wait to tell each other.&nbsp;There's never been a doubt in my mind that Chels is God's perfect girl for me. She's the funniest, goofiest (caught me by surprise), most beautiful, most caring, most Christ-centered person I've ever met. She pushes me every single day to be the best version of myself. Getting little glimpses of what everyday life will be like with her has me more excited about marrying her than I've ever been about anything. I waited 25 long, single years to meet her, but in hindsight, I'd wait infinitely more. I doubted God's plan many times as I watched all of my friends fall in love and get married, but I wouldn't change a thing. Every rejection, every lonely night, every life lesson led me to you, Chels. And I can confidently say, you were absolutely worth the wait. I'm beyond thrilled to share our special day with all of you, and I can't thank you guys enough for the role you've played in both of our lives. I love you, Chelsea Nichole Ariola. Forever and always.&nbsp;

WORTH THE WAIT - TYLER'S PERSPECTIVE

Our Story

Details

Photos

I met Weston when he was brought on this Earth nearly 19 years ago - aka he's my younger brother. Weston and I have been pretty close since the beginning, but we've really gotten closer over the years, bonding over Razorback athletics, Xbox and mostly just sports in general. I would definitely consider Weston one of my best friends, which is cool to say about a&nbsp;brother. Weston is a freshman at the University of Arkansas and works in graphic design for Razorback football recruiting. Can't wait to have my little bro by my side on the big day!&nbsp;

Weston Davis

I&nbsp;met Katie at Camp War Eagle in the summer of 2012 when we were camp counselors and had been placed in the same orientation cabin. We became best friends in the summer of 2014 when we were both on top staff at camp. In the following years we worked full time at Camp War Eagle as program directors. It is common for people to confuse us for one another (mostly due to the blonde hair and green eyes) so we've gotten used to responding to either name especially during the summer! Katie is due to deliver her first child (Brooks Bellamy)&nbsp;on Christmas day! It has been fun going through big life changes together.&nbsp;We both like eating kids meals, watching cheesy movies, and reminiscing about our high school cheerleading days!

Katie Bellamy

Will and I have been best buds since the third grade. We had a ton in common from the moment we met - from sports to singing, we did just about everything together. Over the years&nbsp;our families became great friends and starting doing things together as well, including vacations. Will and I have been all sorts of dynamic duos: Elvis and Jerry Lee, Buzz and Woody, etc. Will's the kind of guy you can always count on. He's currently a worship pastor in Smackover, AR, married to my good friend Mollie and is expecting a little girl (Lottie) this spring!&nbsp;I wouldn't have wanted to go through America's Got Talent, college at OBU or my search for the perfect girl (Chels) with anyone else. There's no way I wasn't going to include my dude as a groomsman.&nbsp;

Will Richey

Although me and Shelby had spent a few summers together at Camp War Eagle as counselors&nbsp;I really started to get to know her when I&nbsp;started working full time as a program director with her in the summer of&nbsp;2015! Shelby helped guide me and get me through my first summer as a director&nbsp;as she was a seasoned pro. She has been my go to girl the past few summers and I don't know what I would have done without our weekly poolside chats! This year she transitioned to being an amazing 3rd grade teacher and I&nbsp;am so proud of the impact she's making!&nbsp;She's an ENFJ just like me (on the Meyers Briggs personality test) and when you put us together the giggles are non stop. We both like Fuzzy's queso, naps, and pool floaties.

Shelby Hartgrove

Ashleigh is my long time best friend. We met in the 5th grade when we both started school at Shiloh for the first time and continued to go to school together all the way through our senior year of college. Ashleigh has always brought out the fun and outgoing side of me. We have way too many memories to count. Some of our most fond memories include what we call our "glory days" being high school cheerleaders together! We also have emails from each other as far back as 6th grade.&nbsp;Ashleigh is now a dental hygienist in NWA&nbsp;and it is so fun to get together for snow cones or Slim's and look back on all our years of being friends!!&nbsp;

Ashleigh Canada

You guys have probably heard this story a thousand times by now, but Caleb and I met in high school while injured on the football team. We quickly discovered that not only were we huge sports fans, but we also loved to sing as well. We quickly became close friends, along with Will, and would get together to watch the Hogs and harmonize. The many hours of messing around with melodies eventually turned into our awesome run on AGT and numerous other local gigs. Caleb and I, like Weston, also are constantly giving each other our thoughts on the Razorbacks and the LA&nbsp;Lakers.Caleb is a worship leader in Little Rock, a law student at UALR and recently got engaged to his new fianceé, Ashley! Congrats, dude!&nbsp;&nbsp;I'm excited to have my fellow&nbsp;threats by my side on April 13th!

Caleb Conrad

Tyler and I met a little later in life - in college at OBU - but we quickly became the best of friends. We met mainly because of the massive amount of Benton and Little Rock Christian students in our class, but rushing and pledging Eta Alpha Omega really brought us together. It was a natural friendship, considering our names are&nbsp;both Tyler J. Plus, we agree on everything. And I mean everything. Tyler and I hung out just about everyday in our last couple of years at OBU and became roommates as seniors. I still miss our nightly life chats and jam sessions, but look at us now. Tyler is the digital content coordinator at OBU and is married to a fellow college friend, Anna.&nbsp;I know I can go to Tyler about anything, and I can't wait to share my wedding day alongside him!&nbsp;

Tyler Rosenthal

I&nbsp;met Macy at Camp War Eagle in 2013 when we were counselors together. Macy is one of the funniest people I've ever met in my life.&nbsp;By the end of the summer when we had to say bye to each other (she attended school in Oklahoma and I&nbsp;attended school in Arkansas) we were a mess. I&nbsp;don't think I've ever cried so much saying goodbye to a friend! She is now one of the directors for our year round camp program and the Fayetteville students love her! From our beach trip to 4th of July fireworks at my house to being DJ's together at camp, her friendship is one I&nbsp;am very grateful for!&nbsp;

Macy Myrick

Because I became such good friends with Tyler, I also grew close with Stephen because they came to OBU from the same high school. Stephen was part of our suite (EV224 for life), which would later get dubbed as the 'Pallet Palace.' Our biggest bonding time came from serving as co-directors for the Eta Tiger Tunes show, 'Janitors.' Through that experience, I got to witness Stephen's talent, creativity, patience and leadership. It was definitely a time I'll never forget - third place, hot wives (it works). Stephen is an incredibly skilled pianist and an even better friend. He is currently the choir director for 6th-12th grade at his alma mater, LRCA, and is married&nbsp;to Abby, the daughter of my two favorite OBU professors (Hey Drs. Root).&nbsp;

Stephen Curry

I knew Kelly for a few summers when we were counselors at Camp War Eagle together but we really started becoming friends the summer we were on top staff together in 2014! What brought us together most was running the camp talent show (we were co directors). Getting to watch 7-17 year olds audition with whatever talent they so choose brings a lot of laughs. We ended every tryout day once everyone had left&nbsp;by singing lots of High School Musical duets in the microphones. We both share in our love of dance (Kelly is currently a teacher and dance coach and I&nbsp;tap dance) and she has been by my side through everything!&nbsp;

Kelly Johnson

Bekah is my future sister in law! So of course we met when me and Tyler started dating (officially in July of this past summer)! I&nbsp;have always wanted a sister. When I was little I&nbsp;begged my mom for a sister everyday. I never ended up getting a sister (I grew up with 2 brothers) but now I'm going to have one and I'm SO glad it's Bekah! We have already made fun memories together like our trip to Silver Dollar City and a night of trying those somewhat painful peel off face masks haha. Bekah just got married in September so she has been such a big help to me with all the wedding planning so far!&nbsp;I&nbsp;can't for all the memories to come like possibly becoming mom's in the next couple years together ;)&nbsp;

Bekah Vander Stelt

David was the final member of our power suite and another LRCA&nbsp;alum. Even though David wasn't a member of Eta, we still spent plenty of time together in the dorm. Typically, you could find us watching singing shows, the latest Netflix craze or laughing over some high brow humor. I've always been impressed with David's attention to detail, drive to succeed and creative eye. I'm still impressed and proud of the late night talk show he produced at OBU. David is currently at Dallas Theological Seminary alongside his wife, Caroline, who also attended OBU. He's a constant friend, even miles apart, and I'm excited to have him as a groomsman.&nbsp;

David Winkler

I wasn't expecting to become friends with Joe, considering I didn't know he existed, but when he started dating my sister, Bekah, I approved pretty quickly. Joe and Bekah met while studying and spending a semester in Chicago - such a cool story. Joe married Bekah and became my brother in law this past September, and it's been awesome to watch them grow together as a couple. Joe and I recently bonded over our hatred of losing board games during Christmas break. Joe currently works for Pizza Ranch and owns his own roofing company. Even though he took my sister 11 hours away to Iowa,&nbsp;&nbsp;I'm still proud&nbsp;to have him by my side.&nbsp;

Joe Vander Stelt

I met Paige 4 or 5 years ago when she started dating my little brother, Cameron! She has quickly become a part of our family! I always wondered what the girl would be like that my brother ended up with and he definitely got a great one in Paige! She is currently getting her masters in cyber security&nbsp;and traveling the world one country at a time.&nbsp;I have loved getting to have her on trips with us, lots of game nights, and of course&nbsp;introducing her to new things that she hasn't experienced with all of my family's&nbsp;traditions!

Paige Ooton

Aaleyah is my junior bridesmaid for my wedding! I've known Aaleyah since she was a baby because she is my 2nd cousin (in my family we're all really close including 2nd cousins). It has been so fun getting to watch her grow up and become the caring and kind high schooler that she is today!&nbsp;Not to mention how hard she works in school! I&nbsp;just know she's going to change the world. Some of my fondest memories with her were the summer's she has gotten to come be a camper at Camp War Eagle and experiencing that together!&nbsp;

Aaleyah Jackson

Cameron -&nbsp;Chelsea's younger brother -&nbsp;and I haven't had too much of an&nbsp;opportunity to spend a lot of time together, but in the short period we've had, I've enjoyed getting to know him. Family is incredibly important to both Chelsea and I, so having the approval of Cameron has meant a lot. He and his girlfriend, Paige - who's also in the wedding, are really fun to hang out with and I'm excited to make that happen more often in the future. Cameron currently lives in Kansas City, MO&nbsp;and works in the health information technology field for Cerner. I'm super pumped he agreed to be a groomsman.&nbsp;

Cameron Ariola

I&nbsp;am so excited for Emma Grace to be my flower girl! She is also my second cousin and I've also known her since she was a baby. She is 4 years old and will be going into kindergarten next year (I can't believe she's old enough for that already!) Emma Grace is a fun, energetic little girl who loves to share her toys and I&nbsp;think if she could choose someone to be someday it would be the&nbsp;Black Panther (she LOVES that movie). It will be fun to continue to watch her grow up and I just know she will make the cutest little flower girl around!

Emma Grace Jackson

Wedding Party

Registry

Q + A

If you are traveling from out of town and needing a hotel we have already booked a block of rooms for your convenience at Home 2 Suites in Springdale. Follow the link to reserve your room with our block. This link is for reserving a room on Friday and Saturday. If you are also needing a room for Thursday please contact Stephanie Davis and she can help you with those arrangements.&nbsp;The rooms are $119 a night and you have the option of 2 queen sized&nbsp;beds or 1 king sized&nbsp;bed. The link will be open to reserve until March 11th. After that you will have to find your own accommodations. Here is the link&nbsp;for reservations:&nbsp;<a href="https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsecure3.hilton.com%2Fen_US%2Fht%2Freservation%2Fbook.htm%3FinputModule%3DHOTEL%26ctyhocn%3DFYVHTHT%26spec_plan%3DCHTADW%26arrival%3D20190411%26departure%3D20190414%26cid%3DOM%2CWW%2CHILTONLINK%2CEN%2CDirectLink%26fromId%3DHILTONLINKDIRECT&data=02%7C01%7CMelanie.Siers%40hilton.com%7Cb163838c8bf64a0c84fd08d664371341%7C660292d2cfd54a3db7a7e8f7ee458a0a%7C0%7C0%7C636806585038422310&sdata=bw0na8qklb0E0djOCEuJP3zMxyXhVoHnqYCKV9oslIk%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank">Home 2 Suites Room Reservation for the Davis/Ariola Wedding</a>

Chelsea & Tyler

Chelsea & Tyler

Registry