They met the beginning of their senior year at Liberty when the leadership teams from their side of campus went for ice cream one night.  Even though she met several new people that night, Ben stood out to her.  So much so that they talked the rest of the evening.  But when he asked her out on their first date, neither of them was sure where exactly things would go… he didn’t want to lead her on and she didn’t want to get her hopes up.  But they continued to see each other and started to fall in love over study dates, coffee dates, dinner dates, and of course, ice cream dates.

As they dated, both of them ran after the Lord wanting only what He had in store for them.  And in all honesty, it has been so encouraging to see these two seek God before anything else.  That’s not to say they do that perfectly all the time – none of us can – but they work at it and work at it together.  So even when there were bumps in the road and doubts in their minds, God kept leading them back to each other.  And at different times, He reassured them each that they were doing exactly what He wanted of them.

One day this past spring, Ben had everything planned and laid out.  He took Holly for lunch in downtown Lynchburg and as they walked around afterward, he led her to a trail by the James River.  Out of nerves, he was close to running down the trail, but as they approached the spot where he and one of Holly’s friends had laid out flowers and photos, a group of hikers happened upon the spot at the same time and diffused some of the tension!  But it couldn’t deter Ben from telling Holly how much he loved her and most importantly, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.  When he asked her to be his wife she immediately said Yes! and he placed the most beautiful ring on her finger. But the day wasn’t over… he took her to celebrate over ice cream with their friends.  At the exact same place they’d first met.

Holly and Ben, I am SO excited for you guys and this journey that God has you on.  You’ve already learned so much from Him and each other and I can’t wait to see how He uses you as husband and wife! Enjoy a few of my favorites from their sunrise engagement session…

We started out at Furman… even though it wasn’t Liberty University it still provided some beautiful backdrops!

Y’all.  Those flowers!

I have forever loved weeping willows and was so excited to find one for some portraits!

Ben… that ring?  It’s gorgeous!

Since ice cream was such an integral part of their relationship, we headed to downtown Greenville for Spill the Beans. Yes, they serve ice cream when they open first thing in the morning!

He definitely brings out the best smiles in her!

Down below Spill the Beans is a French restaurant called Passerelle… and it provided a beautiful piece of Europe for an end to their session!

Favorite!!