I've had these photos sitting in a draft post since 2016 when we were featured over on Southern Weddings sharing one of our favorite things to do together. While I was cleaning out the drafts I no longer want to share, I almost deleted this one but decided that while these photos may be from 5 years ago it's still one of my favorite things we've ever done and I want to share it with you. Some of these photos are a little staged and corny but look past that and plan your own convertible date. Just trust me!
Pick a destination (we prefer smaller, historical towns) and find the longest, most scenic way to get there. Once you're there explore the town. Drive down all the streets, go in all the shops, and be open to whatever comes your way.
This particular day we were in Franklin, TN. (I was pregnant with Tucker here and didn't even know it yet.😊) We were in town visiting some family in Nashville and decided to head over to check out the quaint shops and beautiful houses. We started our day at The Coffee House (it's still there today but has been painted and redecorated) and then we were on our way. We ended this convertible date in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which is a favorite of ours. It's only about a 3 hour drive from here and we loved taking the convertible through the mountains and Cades Cove where we were married.
I'll also share the interview questions we answered for the feature. It's fun to see how much has changed since we were newly married just 5 years ago.
Names: Jeremy and Stephanie Capan
By day: Jeremy does sales/account management in commercial flooring and Stephanie owns and designs for the online lifestyle brand Winnie Jean. (I closed up shop at the end of 2017 and now I'm a stay at home mama.)
Where they live: Loveland, Ohio (Germantown, Ohio)
Their love story: I had recently moved home from Nashville (I was born there and lived there four years after college) and during a moment that at the time I thought of as weakness, I prayed for God to bring a man into my life who loved Jesus and who would love me unconditionally. Two weeks later, I met Jeremy. And, believe it or not, we met on Tinder! (Yes, I’m serious!) We both swiped right, and, as they say, the rest is history.
Their wedding: We got married in Tennessee at the Cades Cove Primitive Baptist Church (where we got engaged!), and our reception was held at the Appalachian Clubhouse – both are located in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I’m from Nashville, and my family goes to Gatlinburg every year around Christmas, and Jeremy has been camping in the Smokies with his family since he was a kid, so it made the perfect location for our destination wedding. That area has been special to each of us separately for years and now it’s a place where we’re making our own memories. “On a Tennessee Saturday night. Couldn’t feel better, I’m together, with my Dixieland delight” was our unofficial “theme,” and it was a laid back, intimate day. I wore a blush dress and a flower crown and I married my best friend. It was literally the best day of my life.
Stephanie and Jeremy’s five favorite date ideas:
1. A drive with the top down. Our favorite thing to do together is go on a drive. Every couple of months we rent a convertible and take a day to explore. We don’t usually have any plans except the way we’re heading and we just let the day take us where it wants. Sometimes in the evening we just hit the country roads near our home in Loveland. We love the time in the car together and it’s always fun to explore new places that are just around the corner.
2. Eating local. We love to try out locally owned restaurants. Our town is really quaint and has some delicious options and there are a bunch in Cincinnati that we still need to try! (This is something we've gotten away from since moving to Germantown and having kids. We don't have very many locally owned restaurants here in town and when we do go out for dinner we usually opt for Chuys. I'd love to start doing this again!)
3. Quick picnic. We love to pack up a simple dinner or pick up something on the go and take it to a park nearby and have a makeshift picnic. It’s quick and easy but it gets us away from the TV trays and our cell phones and outside together. (We still do this today, though not as much since having the boys. We do take them on picnics, usually to a park somewhere so they can run around and get some energy out.)
4. Maxed-out movie date. Cinebistro is our favorite way to go to the movies. We love being able to get dinner at the movie and the recliners are so comfortable. We’ve spoiled ourselves and can’t imagine going to a “regular” movie theater again. (Ah, remember when you could easily go see a movie? I'm looking forward to post-covid days when you can go out without a mask. Whenever things return to normal, this date night is for sure moving to the top of the list.)
5. Pizza at home. We also love pizza nights at home! These usually fall on Sundays because it’s been a busy week, a busy weekend and we are ready to just relax on the couch with our pups and an episode of Game of Thrones. (Now our pizza nights are on Fridays because I am burnt out on cooking dinner for the week. And since quarantine started a year ago we have trouble finding something we want to watch on TV. We've been through a lot of it. Ha!)
Here we are just casually looking over a road map.😂 We absolutely never do this so incase you couldn't tell, this was staged for the feature. Jeremy is amazing and always takes care of road trip plans. He finds where we're going and how we're going to get there. We don't really plan anything for once we get there because we like to explore and see where the day takes us.
It was so fun to look back on this day and remember how fun our convertible dates are. This wasn't the last time we did this but I can't even remember when the last time was. It's definitely harder now having the boys because we'd have to have someone watch them the entire day but we need to make it happen this spring! This is actually a pretty covid friendly date so it's something you can make happen no matter what's going on where you're at.
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