Southern Living / Getty HGTV's Ben and Erin Napier, bridal bouquet
Fourteen years after tying the knot, HGTV‘s Erin Napier is clearly just as smitten with her husband, Ben, as she was in 2008. In honor of their anniversary, she shared three throwback photos from their special day, which have drawn thousands of comments on social media from fans and celebs, but also from friends and family who were there. Here’s a look at their sweet memories…
Erin Napier Says She’s ‘Thankful Every Single Day’ for Marrying Ben
To celebrate their fourteenth anniversary on November 22, 2022, Erin shared three throwback photos from her wedding to Ben, including one of them nose-to-nose, another revealing the details of the back of her dress, and the last featuring them at the altar as Ben’s dad officiated and Erin’s best friend and maid of honor, Mallorie Rasberry, smiles as she watches.
Erin captioned the post, “14 years ago today I got a new last name and my parents got another son. I am thankful every single day that God saw fit to make us a family, @scotsman.co.”
A couple of the Napiers’ friends recalled the day being extremely cold; according to Wunderground, it was barely above freezing in Mississippi by mid-morning.
Friend Anna Lee Patrick wrote, “I’m cold just thinking about that day” and added a frozen face emoji.
Another family friend, Amanda Blackwell McLeod, chimed in with a laughing emoji and commented, “The pews were like ice and my dress was strapless… I sat at full attention so my back wouldn’t touch the pew! Happy anniversary, guys!!!”
Patrick replied to that comment, writing, “and @erinnapier was out there in that sleeveless dress doing photos for hours like a dang rock star!”
Erin liked their comments, and she and Ben also liked a comment from her mom, Karen Rasberry, who admitted she hadn’t realized it was their special day.
“I forgot that today is your anniversary,” she wrote. “What a memorable wedding y’all had. I didn’t know what path you would eventually take, but it turned out pretty good. Thankful for you and Ben and the two girls y’all made. They are the joy of my life.” Rasberry added four red hearts to her comment.
Following their 2008 wedding, the couple traveled to New York City for their honeymoon and to celebrate Thanksgiving, including attending the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. On November 15, Erin posted from a dinner in New York 14 years later, after appearing on the TODAY Show.
“I’ve been sitting across the table from him for almost 18 years,” she captioned a photo of Ben sitting across the dinner table from her. “14 years ago, we honeymooned in NYC, and tonight we talked about parenting and remembered who we used to be when we came to this city. It feels so long ago, far away. But I like him still. Really like him. And love him. Feeling really lucky to still get butterflies.”
Erin Napier Shared Sweet Wedding Video 2 Years Ago
On their 12th anniversary in 2020, Erin found and shared their wedding video with fans, viewable by clicking “play” on the Instagram post above. Diehard fans will recognize “Home Town” regulars Mallorie and Jim Rasberry, who are among their best friends and business partners. In her 2020 post, Erin revealed that the two got engaged at their wedding.
According to Southern Living, the two tied the knot at the University of Mississippi’s Paris Yates Chapel. The Napiers finished their educations there after meeting at Jones Community College.
On the Southern Weddings blog in 2014, Erin shared how quickly the two knew they were meant for each other.
“After secretly crushing on each other for a year,” she said, “I was assigned to design a story feature on ‘Big Ben,’ the most popular guy on campus, for our college yearbook, so we hung out that Thursday afternoon and said ‘I love you, let’s get married’ on Monday.”