Shelby and Mitch met in an environmental science class during their freshman year at Purdue University. At first, Shelby wouldn’t give Mitch the time of day, but Mitch persisted in asking her out to coffee, concerts, and any other date he could think of!
One Saturday morning, Mitch invited both Shelby and their mutual friend out to breakfast. Shelby agreed and showed up at the restaurant, not knowing Mitch had called their friend and told her not to come so he could be alone with Shelby! After this “accidental” first date, their friendship grew and turned into so much more. They made their relationship official on May 6, 2012.
Flash forward almost four years later to a vacation in Longboat Key, Florida, a place where Mitch and Shelby had taken their first vacation together a few years earlier, some more special memories were about to be made. They chose to return to celebrate Shelby’s 23rd birthday and a belated Valentine’s Day.
On February 19, 2016, one day after Shelby’s birthday, Mitch suggested they check the time of the sunset for that evening and watch it together on the beach. They grabbed a couple of lounge chairs and sat on the beach for a while, watching the sun begin to sink over the water.
Then Mitch said, “Let’s get someone to take our picture” and walked over to a woman on the beach. What Mitch actually asked the woman to take was a video. Shelby didn’t suspect a thing!
As they posed for the “photo” with the sunset behind them, Mitch dropped to one knee and asked Shelby to make him the “luckiest man in the world” and to marry him.
She, of course, said yes and they will be tying the knot next May on the fifth anniversary of the day their relationship began.
When asked about what they love most about one another, Shelby says she loves how they can be completely themselves around each other and how in sync they often find themselves. They are frequently amazed at how they are each thinking the same thing at the exact same time. They could literally be driving down the road and both randomly think of something from months ago, and one of them will mention it and the other says, “I was JUST thinking of that!”
They both have the same sarcastic sense of humor and can have just as much fun with each other watching Netflix as they can going out with friends. They are just completely at ease with each other!
As for the wedding day, the couple will be saying their I Do’s at The Madison Event Center in Covington, Kentucky. They are most looking forward to just being surrounded by their friends and family (they don’t get to see them as much any more since they live out of state from most of them) and celebrating their new marriage with plenty of toasts and dessert!
