Beth and Joe are an adorable, fun, super smart couple. I could talk with them for hours as conversation is fast paced and interesting. Their engagement session was styled around their interests, how they met, as well as their jobs. We started at the Chihully DNA strand on IUPUI’s campus as Beth is a scientist. Next the two had a picnic styled with vintage sodas, books (Joe is a Librarian), and a beautiful berry pie Beth made which I was fortunate to get a slice later. In between the picnic, their adorable pooches, Eddie and Agnes, joined in on the engagement photo fun. We ended with a stroll around their Broadripple neighborhood as everything was in full bloom. Concluding their photos are some questions I asked Joe and Beth to answer to tell their story. I can not wait until your wedding this summer in Brown County, Indiana!
How we met-Fences and Libraries
Bethany fell in love with charming house with a beautiful library and moved to the Broad Ripple neighborhood of Indianapolis. Joseph first saw Bethany over the back fence while she was mowing the lawn (the first and last time she’ll every use an old school push mower). Bethany was really glad that she had nice neighbors and became friends with Joseph, a librarian. It didn’t take very long for the neighbors to realize that they really liked each other and they started spending more time together.
Do you remember your first date? If so where did you go, what did you do?
Joe and Beth didn’t really have a first date. The closest thing to a first date would be when Joe invited Bethany to go swimming in the neighbor’s pool. While swimming under the stars they both realized that they really, really liked each other. That weekend Joe asked Bethany if they could date. Instead of going out on typical dinner and a movie dates, Beth and Joe spent a lot of time cooking together and taking Agnes, the dog that pointed Bethany out to Joe, on walks around their neighborhood.
How did Joe Propose
The first birthday present Joseph gave Bethany was a handmade book entitled “100 Reasons Why I Want to Be with Bethany. Forever.” A very appropriate gift from a librarian. The lovely card stock and crayon creation even included a very snazzy copyright page complete with volume, Library of Congress cataloging information, and subject headings. Bethany read through the 100 reasons and laughed, smiled and cried a little; then she got to reason 100 “Because I didn’t flinch when I saw how much the ring cost….I would have bankrupted myself.” After receiving the most perfect present she could ever ask for (handmade gifts trump diamonds in Bethany’s book), Bethany agreed to marry Joseph. Several months later when Joseph had his birthday, Bethany gave him a book containing 100 reasons why she wanted to be with him forever and a beautiful tradition was born. Once the couple marry, Joe will organize the little library that Bethany fell in love with in the house that brought them together. There’s no question to what the favorite volumes in the collection will be.
Wedding planning—talk about how you chose your date and location.
We love to take walks and hikes with our dogs, so it seemed appropriate to get married outside. The natural beauty of Brown County made it an obvious choice for a location. Brown County is also one of the treasures of Indiana, which fits into the overall theme of the wedding.
Our fabulous photographer, Stacy Able, was the deciding factor in how we chose our date. No, seriously she was. Scheduling at Brown County State Park was a slight challenge, because the reception site could be reserved a year advance, but the site the couple wanted for the ceremony couldn’t be reserved until January. We reserved our reception site for 3 weekends in June. The minister, Beth’s uncle, wasn’t available on one of the weekends and Stacy was only available one of the remaining weekends. We really liked Stacy when we met her and knew she had shot beautiful pictures in Brown County that we had to have her photograph the wedding. So we set the date without knowing if we would get our ceremony site or not. In the end we were able to schedule the beautiful amphitheater with its sweeping views of Brown County, which just goes to show that everything really does work out in the end. 
Tell me a little bit about your wedding inspiration.
All the good things Indiana has to offer are the inspiration for the wedding. The wedding will be comfy and slightly rustic, but will also have pops of bright color to go with the summer season. The wedding colors of pool and canary were inspired by aqua antique Ball jars (Joe went to Ball State University) and Joe’s favorite flower. When Beth found a large piece of hand-blocked fabric that once belonged to her deceased grandmother that had both yellow and aqua in the design, the color scheme seemed meant to be (just like Joe and Beth). The vintage fabric was used as backdrop in the save the date cards and will be incorporated in the wedding favors. The couple is trying to use as many local things as possible (local flowers, classic recipes, games and a laid-back vibe).
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