Taylor & Ben

Occupations Taylor is in marketing; Ben is in sales

Wedding date June 7, 2024

Number of Guests A little under 100

Number of Attendants Bridesmaids: My sister (matron of honor), my now sister-in-law (maid of honor), and my four best friends from childhood. One of the four girls who has been my best friend since the 7th grade, was the one who married me and Ben. My niece/goddaughter was our flower girl and spent the day getting ready with us.

Groomsmen: Ben’s best man, Dan, has been his best friend since college, Sam, James and John (three cousins), Brandon (bride’s brother), and Brendan (best friend from high school.)

How You Met or the weekend and one of my girlfriends was also at the beach with one of Ben’s friends, so my girlfriends and I were invited to hang with this group of guys in a little apartment near Anthony’s Liquors. We played drinking games together, like 8 of us and during Cheers General Ben got stuck on a rule where he had to keep his forehead down on the table the rest of the game. So the story goes that after the game was over, Ben ran out to grab some more drinks but us girls were ready to go. Ben says he came back after playing Frogger in traffic because the 30-pack ripped open in the street and beer cans were flying—but he didn’t want to come back empty handed. All that work and we had already left. I left thinking “that Ben guy was really cute.” That night, sitting on the OC Bus headed back to where we were staying, I found Ben on Twitter and followed him. The very next day, he followed me back and messaged me that Monday saying, “What’s up?” (very romantic). Later that summer we became “official” and have been together ever since.

The Engagement We got engaged on the steps in our first home we bought together. It was a Thursday, and we were getting ready to go to the beach for a long weekend, my parents have a place in Bethany. It was June, I was upstairs packing, wearing sweatpants and a tank top, looking like a hot mess when I heard Ben (who had been weird and sweaty all day) call me from downstairs to ask for my help with something. As I am walking down the steps, he is standing at the bottom, and it happened all right there. He said later he wanted to do something simple at the beach once we were there, but he couldn’t imagine sitting next to me for 2.5 hours with this ring in his pocket not being able to say anything about it—it was so funny and sweet and perfect.

Wedding Design Inspiration I wanted something magical and flirty and fun. I am not typically someone who goes for things with lots of color, I am a neutral person, but love feels so much more fun and vibrant than that. So, thank goodness for Pinterest and others before me who had incredible taste, because I copied a lot of what I saw online. I never really dreamed of what my wedding would look like or had big feelings for the design. Ben and I are both into really timeless and organic styles, something welcoming and simple, but we threw in some fun and color. All we really cared about was being with our favorite people.

What Was Unique and Special About Your Wedding Day We both wholeheartedly believed it was the most perfect and magical day. Had you asked me before the wedding if I thought I would feel that way, I would have told you probably not. I knew it would be beautiful and fun, and we were so happy to have an opportunity to celebrate with everyone we loved, but I never imagined that magic and just pure love that was in the air all day. Our friends and family are so amazing, everyone we worked with to put on the wedding was perfect, and the whole day went off without a hitch. Also, the weather could not have been more perfect—sunshine and a cool breeze all day in June. We both said our grandmothers were looking out for us on the weather front.

We heard so many stories of things going awful on people’s wedding days like issues with food, family drama, etc., but Ben and I both are surrounded by amazing people and I think because we have been together for 11 years now, a lot of our friends and family know each other quite well, so it was just this amazing day of everyone being happy and having a great time and so many people shared with us how much love and happiness they felt.

Favorite Details The simplicity of it all and some family touches. We used baskets from my house and my mother-in-law’s linens for the lining for the cookie table, my husband’s wedding ring was his grandfather’s ring and I wore a cameo ring that came from my grandfather’s mother.  

Most Unexpected Event On Your Wedding Day Right before walking down the aisle, like literally in line as the bridesmaids started walking out, my mom asked me if I had the rings for the ring bearer to carry and realized I didn’t so we had to stall for a beat so my sister could run upstairs and find them (because I also had no clue where they were).

Piece of Advice If you can, try not to take it all too seriously. Pick a venue with natural beauty that matches your energy and trust your gut. It is a day to enjoy, not to stress over. Your guests will feed off of your energy, so have fun and everyone else will too!

Beauty Vintage Veils Bridesmaids All over! From Show Me Your Mumu to Amazon. Caterer & Cake Chef’s Expressions Floral Design Barbs’s Backyard Blooms Groom and Groomsmen State and Liberty (groom); Men’s Wearhouse (groomsmen) Honeymoon Family home in the Keys Invitations Papier Location The Liriodendron Mansion Music Bradley Maxwell Officiant A bridesmaid and friend from over 15 years Photographer Madeline Serio Photography Wedding Outfits Mikaella bridal dress from Gamberdella (ceremony); H&M (reception)