First Baptist Church of Mena

Ceremony

Avalon Keep Botanical Gardens

Reception

Fall

Our Wedding

Shelby and Andrew met on a frigid day in December of 2022 in Shelby's hometown of Mena Arkansas. Andrew was traveling to Texas to celebrate Christmas with his family, and Shelby was home from college for winter break. The behind-the-scenes work that went into this meeting that changed the course of their lives started about a year earlier. Shelby had transferred to East Texas Baptist University to obtain her bachelor's degree and met Andrew's sister Emily. They quickly became friends, and Emily informed Shelby that she had a brother who was indeed single. At this time, Andrew was at his current church in Arkansas pursuing his calling in music ministry. After some encouragement from Emily and her friends, Andrew reached out to Shelby, and a long-distance friendship began to form. Fast forward to that freezing December day when they met: Andrew had already driven three and a half hours to Mena to stop and see Shelby. He still had several more to go before arriving in Texas, but he and Shelby talked and laughed for about four hours before saying goodbye. This was their first date, which turned into many more, and almost two years later, Andrew proposed to Shelby on top of White Rock Mountain on December 21st, a very beautiful and cold winter day.

How We Met

Our Story

Photos

Bethany is Shelby's youngest sister and childhood bully. Bethany's favorite memory of the bride is when she peed the bed as a child and blamed it on Bethany.

Bethany 

Sydney is Shelby's oldest sister. Sydney has many fond memories with Shelby most of them involve both of them laughing until they can't breathe. They share a love of art and often enjoy a good cup of coffee together. Sydney's daughter Eislyn is the flower girl!

Sydney

Lexie has been a dear friend of the bride for over ten years. No matter how far away they have lived from each other over the years they have always been brought back together. They have had countless sleepovers and trips to get ice-cream together. A memory she shares with the bride that makes her laugh is when the bride tried to order a margarita at a restaurant that did not serve alcohol. 

Lexie

Maddie is friend from college and some of her favorite memories with the bride are making coffee and watching movies together on rainy days. Maddie says " The strongest friendships are forged in the seemingly mundane, everyday moments. We were truly each other's family while at college and my life is so much sweeter and full of laughter with Shelby in it." 

Maddie

Karis is a friend from college and some of her fondest memories with the bride are jamming out to songs in the car, movie nights, late-night conversations, and sharing countless cringy jokes! One of her favorite memories with Shelby was when they introduced the rest of their friends to the Hobbit movies. They spent a whole afternoon together making snacks to go with the movies. Karis says, "With Shelby, I can be my most serious and most ridiculous self, and I know that is a sign of a truly precious friend."

Karis

Zachary is the older brother of the bride, and he remembers teaching her how to properly ride a bike without training wheels when she was little. The reason Zachary had to teach her how to ride was that he decided to take Shelby's little bike and ride it down a hill as fast as possible. While doing this he ended up breaking the training wheels on her bike on accident. Shelby and Zachary had many other bike-related incidents in the years to follow.

Zachary

"I met Andrew in 2001 when he was 2 and I was 4. We were next door neighbors for six years and inseparable during that time- he was my best friend. That is, until he stole my scooter. He never apologized. He still owes me a scooter."

Christopher

Nathan once threw a sword into Andrew's eye while pretending to die. He would later repeat this process on an unrelated occasion.

Nathan

Bryce says that Andrew proposed to him with an empty ring box on top of a plateau in Texas. Then they both sat on a bench and read journal entries from geocache.

Bryce

Sometimes you are blessed enough for the words "sibling" and "bestie" to prove synonymous in your life. Hi, I'm Emily, the little sister/matchmaker. I'm thrilled to see Andrew happily building a life with the love of his life. Congratulations Andrew and Shelby! Love you big!

Emily 

Ben (on the right in this picture) once accompanied Andrew on a hike under hill and over dale to a 100+ year old cemetery. Pretty nifty.

Doug is married to Andrew's sister, and he said, "I married yo sister but took tantalizing photos with you."

Doug Noe

Wedding Party

Q + A

The Sassafras Inn is very cozy and great for families looking for a place to stay!

Sassafras Inn

Sun Country Inn is located in the center of Mena and has several room options!

Sun Country Inn

Other options for guests

Guests can check out www.airbnb.com and find several Airbnb options in Mena and the surrounding area to stay! Queen Wilhelmina State Park has campgrounds that can be reserved and rooms at the Queen Wilhelmina Lodge.

Shelby & Andrew

Shelby & Andrew

S&A

Ceremony

Reception