Amy and Ben met in the fall of 2011 at a party where they had mutual friends who were trying to set them up. They both were a little reserved about attending, but decided to give it a shot.
“We met and I found Ben to be sarcastic, funny and very cute,” Amy recalls — much like the pitch she had been given about him by her friend.
“And he, of course, found me to be intelligent, kind, and staggeringly beautiful,” she added, with just a hint of the sarcasm that perhaps helped seal the deal.
The rest was history.
During the fall of 2016, Ben started making preparations for the engagement. His mother gave him the ring that this father had proposed to her with and Ben decided to have it embellished to make it more personal and customized for Amy. He had a local jeweler from his hometown in Florida do the work and got the ring back on December 23, 2016. His initial plan was to propose during a planned vacation in New Hampshire after the holidays, but he couldn’t wait that long. He proposed after only having the ring in hand for two hours.
Amy and Ben describe the wedding planning process as fun, exciting and emotional all at once. They were committed to having a ceremony with strong family connections and meaning.
This led them quickly to deciding to have the ceremony at Ben’s parents’ house in Bristol.
“It was a no brainer for us,” Amy said. “Having the wedding at a family home was something that we agreed on very early in the planning process and it turned out to be a wonderful decision.”
Amy made plans to borrow her sister Catherine’s veil and earrings that her sister Sarah wore for her wedding day, which she says made her day that much more wonderful.
Ben asked his close family and friends to share their wedding songs or songs that were otherwise special to them, and he incorporated them into the after party playlist. These simple but meaningful details helped Ben and Amy incorporate some their special guests into their celebration, sharing it with those closest to them.
The wedding was set for September 1, 2018.
Looking back, Amy says that one thing that surprised her was just how much fun the ceremony was for her.
“It was light and funny. Ben’s cousin Jill married us, and to start the ceremony she told our history as a couple. It was riddled with jokes that had all the guests laughing. I thought I would be nervous but as it turned out marrying Ben was the easiest thing to do.”
One memory that both Ben and Amy say they know will last forever is of their first dance. Amy says she had actually slightly dreaded this moment, since she doesn’t consider herself a great dancer. Quite the opposite, Ben is a wonderful dancer, so Amy was nervous going in.
“We actually changed the song last minute and played ‘Never in my wildest dreams’ by Dan Auerbach instead of the song we initially picked. We only danced for a little bit before everyone joined but just like the ceremony it was easy and fun,” she says.
As for advice for those embarking on their own wedding planning process, Amy says, “just have fun with it.”
“Something will inevitably go wrong, but so much more will go right.”