Ben and I FINALLY took a spring break vacation in March of 2016, road tripped to Jacksonville, FL with plans to head to Longboat Key and spend some time in the Gulf of Mexico. While in Jacksonville we stayed with our great friend Kate on Neptune Beach. We biked along the beach and the coastal road to look at houses, ate at Metro Diner (they have the BEST crab cakes benedict), and shopped at Salt Life.

One of the great things about beach towns is that restaurants have outdoor eating like noplace in Indiana. To go along with this, dogs get to eat with you at some restaurants. On our last night in Jacksonville, Kate, Luna (Kate's family dog), Ben, and I dressed our best and headed out to the beach restaurants for some great tacos. Halfway there Kate realized she needed to go back and get something for Luna, so Ben and I went out to the beach to wait for her.

We spent time digging our toes into the sand and walking around on the nice, cool beach chatting about anything. After some time, Ben asked me if I'd like to get married on the beach. Of course, being a beach lover, I said yes. Then he stopped me and asked if I'd like to get engaged on the beach as well, and how about this beach. He got down on one knee and brought out the beautiful engagement ring he had been hiding.

You might be thinking ahead of the game here and wondering where Kate might be. As Ben slipped the ring onto my finger, stood up, and kissed me, we heard cheering and yelling in the distance. Kate was hiding behind the tall, beachy grass taking pictures and videos of the whole ordeal! She was a good team player and encouraged us to head out on a date just the two of us.

Just like that, we dropped the boyfriend/girlfriend titles in favor of fiance/fiancee!

Schedule of Events

Ceremony