Michael & Barbara 40th Anniversary | Westerville, Ohio | Anniversary Photographer

Mike and Barb are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. Which I think is amazing! They chose me to take their first EVER professional pictures. I took their pictures at Inniswoods. When we got there is was pouring down rain, but they were troopers saying that they wanted to wait out the storm. So that's what we did. The storm only lasted about 15 minutes but it was enough to drench everything enough so that they couldn't sit down anywhere.

They are so in love it's adorable. They were in their own little world the whole time. They're so comfortable around each other too (I mean it'd be weird if they weren't after that long). But I got to hear their love story. They only knew each other for a few months before getting married and they got married very young. Mike says, "We grew up together. Everything we've gone through in life, we've gone through together and that's made us stronger as a couple." AW!

Barb proposed the first time. It was Mike's turn. He told me ahead of time what his plan was so I could capture everything. He hid the ring in his sock. He said, "Will you promise to be my best friend forever?". She had started crying but of course she said yes. Seriously, how much cuter could they get?? Everybody walking by had stopped to watch. When Mike stood up there was a simultaneous "AWWW" from the crowd.

The ring is an 'Ever Us' ring from Zales. He told me that she saw it on a commercial and joked about wanting it. But he thought it was the perfect time to get it and surprise her. "One diamond for your best friend. One diamond for your true love."