From Long-Distance to Together Forever…
Hannah and Ben—these two young lovers really make you believe in a special kind of love. From the very start of Hannah’s inquiry through out the entire wedding day they could not refrain from declaring their love for each other. It made my heart feel so full for them! You could tell how deeply in love they were with each other just by watching the way they looked at each other—the sparkle in both their eyes—and the way each kiss was so deep.
Hannah and Ben tied the knot at the beautiful Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club
I asked Hannah to recount the story on how they met and Ben’s proposal. This is her story:
“Ben and I met at a Lumineers concert through mutual friends right out of college. We were about to start working for the same company but in completely different parts of Florida. Ben was starting in West Palm Beach and myself in Gainesville. We met more formally again at a staff onboarding event, started chatting and truly never stopped. A couple weeks later Ben asked to come to Gainesville to take me on a date and the journey of long distance began!! It was the best year getting to have him come to Gainesville and go to UF football games, try new coffee shops, but really just fall in love more and more. West Palm was more magical, we would take moped rides around the island, walk on the beach, and try different restaurants… [contd.]
[contd.] …Around May of 2023 was the timeframe I knew Ben was hoping to propose, but doing long distance I could not figure out when he would do it!!! We had plans for myself to come to West Palm a couple weeks later, but I couldn't figure out how all my friends and family would be able to travel down for the occasion. I went to visit a friend in Orlando on a regular Saturday... actually all three of my best friends! It was the sweetest day, we had lunch, caught up and were getting ready to go to dinner. Ben had me convinced he was in West Palm that weekend coaching lacrosse. I was even sending him pictures on the way to dinner, missing him. I realllllly thought it was going to happen on that day, but my friends did a really good job of lying, like too good of a job. But right as I thought we were parking the car for a sweet girls dinner, the car was thrown in park and in-sync the girls turned and looked at me. "Enchanted" by Taylor Swift was playing (my favorite) and Lindsey, my MOH nodded as tears fell and I saw Ben standing by a dock in the distance behind her. AH. I couldn't believe it, one of the best days, followed by a night that we would remember forever. He pulled off the ultimate surprise, proposing on a lake near the city and we couldn't have been more in love.”
“Our wedding was the best day ever!! Our friends and family came from all over to Tampa, on what felt like the most beautiful blue day in December. We felt like the most loved and important people, with the most insanely beautiful, timeless venue! I knew I wanted a wedding that would never go out of style—black dresses, cigars, tuxes, fancy ballroom, white flowers!! We kissed, danced and laughed all night long and it was more magical than we could have ever pictured.”
And this was just a glimpse of this day that was just filled to the brim with so much joy and oozing with love! A great time was had by friends and family, and it was such an honor to capture it all. A reminder to make sure you take time to have fun at your own wedding, and make it your own.
If you’d like to read more love stories you can find more on my blog and as always if you would like to inquire for your elopement or wedding please visit my contact page. If you would like to see more of Hannah + Ben you can do it here!
