It only cost 3/4 billion dollars for Lisa and Ben to find each other.
Back in 2018, Lisa's company acquired the company Ben worked for, and somewhere between the meetings, emails and corporate life, their story quietly began.
Their very first meeting happened when a colleague told Ben "go and find Lisa Withey, she'll know the answer". Lisa doesn't remember the interaction at all....but Ben remembers it very clearly, right down to what she was wearing that day.
Over the next couple of years, they developed a friendship while working together on various projects. Then came the 2019 Christmas party, where a colleague casually mentioned to Ben that she thought they'd make a good couple. That small comment gave him the courage to send Lisa a message.
Lisa's response? A very firm no.
Actually, several firm no's.
Between working together and an age difference, Lisa was adamant that dating was not a good idea. Ever the salesperson that Ben is, he was persistent, patient, and apparently very convincing, because after 6 weeks of messaging back and forth, Lisa finally agreed to go on a date.
During this six weeks, Ben was volunteering with the RFS during the 2019/2020 bushfires and amidst everything that was starting to happen in the world, they found themselves talking constantly and checking in on each other.
Their first dinner date almost didn't make it past the front door. Lisa arrived at Ben's apartment to find him wearing a football singlet and shorts, immediately thinking to herself "Surely he's going to get changed". To her relief, he disappeared briefly before reappearing in.....another pair of shorts, a t-shirt and thongs. Not exactly the transformation Lisa had been hoping for. His Sunday best he called it. At that point, she wasn't entirely convinced about this guy, but thankfully his personality and restaurant choice, turned out to be better than his dress sense.
A few short weeks after their first date, the world went into lockdown. While it wasn’t exactly the beginning either of them imagined, it meant much of their early relationship was spent simply enjoying each other’s company, sitting on the couch, going for walks, and building a relationship away from the noise of the world....in a tiny one bedroom apartment.
In November 2020, they moved in together, followed by an engagement in August 2021. Then came their greatest adventures yet — welcoming Olivia in 2023 and Jayden in 2024.
Life together is a balance in every sense. Lisa is admittedly the more high-strung of the two, while Ben remains cool, calm and collected through almost everything. Somehow, it works perfectly.
Lisa continues her lifelong mission of convincing Ben that vegetables are an essential food group and ensuring his potatoes are crispy enough, while Ben patiently tolerates Lisa's coffee addiction, slow driving, and love of Alo Yoga activewear!
Together, they share a love of travel and adventure, visiting many of their favourite cities in the US, Mexico, Hawaii and Fiji and multiple family trips within Australia— with Olivia already proving herself to be an enthusiastic traveller who is always asking where her suitcase is.
After almost five years of being engaged, countless adventures, two beautiful children, and many crispy potatoes later, it’s finally time to make it official.
We can’t wait to celebrate with all of the people we love on 30 October!