HGTV Stars Erin And Ben Napier's Cutest Couple Moments
From Chip and Joanna Gaines to Brian and Mika Kleinschmidt, HGTV has no shortage of renovation-savvy power couples. Erin and Ben Napier of "Home Town" fame rank among one of our favorite HGTV pairings, as the couple's Mississippi charm, small-town passion, and sincere love connection make them real network highlights.
Ranging from their very first impressions to Ben's birthday surprises, the couple has accumulated some truly heartwarming moments that they've chosen to commemorate and share over the years. While their renovations started gracing our screens in 2016, the Napier's romance began several years before in 2004. Since then, the two have formed an enduring bond, with their sweet interactions simply being testaments to ongoing affection and love for one another.
"We're never apart," Erin told Entertainment Tonight about her and her husband, with Ben adding, "We totally get that not everybody functions that way, but we do, and it's the only way we can." While this dynamic certainly seems to work for the HGTV duo, it also makes for some super cute couple moments.
The Napiers admired each other before they officially met
Erin and Ben Napier's love story started when they attended Jones County Junior College in Mississippi, with both lovebirds noticing each other afar before actually meeting. In their 2018 book "Make Something Good Today," Erin recalled her first impressions of her future spouse.
"Ben Napier and I circled each other before we ever really met. Actually, it's more accurate to say I circled him, like a moon in his orbit. I admired him from afar, thinking I'd never be the kind of girl he'd notice," she excerpted on Instagram. "Ben was popular, but not exclusive, and I think that's why I loved him before I even knew him. Even from far away I could feel his joy and generosity." While the interior designer might've felt like her crush was one-sided, Ben actually revealed that he'd similarly noticed Erin the very first week of school.
As the HGTV star told People, "She was walking across the student union, and she had a pixie haircut. I didn't know what a pixie cut was at the time, but I knew I liked it." Ben and Erin officially met when a yearbook interview brought them together, but we think these initial impressions make up one of their cutest couple moments.
Erin recounts the sweet moment of their engagement
Another major relationship milestone serves as an adorable Napier moment, with Erin recounting the story of Ben's unexpected proposal in a blog post. "It was Friday, September 21, 2007. I was preparing for my family to come up for the Florida vs. Ole Miss game, and Ben asked me to come with him to Square Books so he could get a book for a class," the Mississippi native wrote.
She went on to note that her roommates tagged along with them to the bookshop, staying with her downstairs while Ben allegedly went to find his book on the second floor. When one of her friends handed her a leather-bound book that recounted her and Ben's love story, Erin started to understand what was happening. The handwritten account ended with a message for her to go upstairs to find out the story's ending.
Erin explained that Ben was waiting for her on the upstairs balcony. "He leaned down to my ear and whispered this: 'You know how much I love you? ... And you know I will always take care of you,'" the interior designer recalled, with her significant other mentioning that he'd talked to her grandmother before getting down on one knee and popping the question. "And I couldn't say yes enough or cry enough. It was the most shocking and beautiful moment of my life."
The Napiers honor the anniversary of their first date
Even though Erin and Ben Napier have been married since 2008, the couple still takes the time to honor the early moments of their relationship. In 2017, the HGTV stars shared the details of how they celebrated the anniversary of their first date, which took place only a few days after they first officially met.
In a blog post, Erin explained how they recreated the experience of their initial rendezvous, eating out in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, stopping for peach Nehi on the way home, and pausing to share a kiss at a familiar four-way stop. After sharing these details, she provided some heartwarming insight into how the HGTV couple has made it work after so many years.
"I think an important part of why we are more crazy about each other 13 years on is because we will never let ourselves forget how it felt when we were brand new," Erin wrote. "As long as you can always remember that and feel the same flutter you felt when you were young, it doesn't matter how old you become or how different you are — you're still the same people you were who fell in love and shared a Nehi and a kiss at 4 in the morning."
Erin appreciates Ben as a father to their children on Instagram
One of Erin and Ben Napier's cutest couple moments centers around Ben's attentiveness as a father and spouse. When talking with Us Weekly, Erin revealed that her husband was particularly caring throughout her pregnancy with their first child, stating at the time, "He doesn't let me do anything! He's so generous. He's always been that way, it's just gone into overdrive since we found out about the baby."
This generosity didn't stop after their daughter Helen was born, as Erin shared a heartwarming Instagram post expressing her appreciation for her thoughtful spouse following the birth of their second child, Mae. "If he's not scooping me up off the sofa as I'm still recovering from surgery, he's mixing a bottle or taking Helen swimming," Erin captioned a photo of her husband bottle-feeding their infant daughter, adding that she knows how lucky she and her daughters are.
She closed out the post by encouraging her married followers to always let their significant others know how thankful they are for them, a sentiment that truly makes this one of the cutest Napier moments.
Ben's birthday surprise makes for a cute moment
In an interview with Us Weekly, Erin Napier recounted another one of her cutest couple moments with her husband, sharing the story of a heartwarming birthday gesture that the carpenter surprised her with. The HGTV star opened by explaining that her husband is always able to surprise her for special occasions with the most thoughtful displays of affection and gifts.
"Every time it's been different, but this time [for my birthday,] he got my mom and dad to come over and do the bedtime routine with the girls [daughters Helen and Mae] and put them to bed," Erin explained, adding that Ben had laid out three new dresses for the occasion before instructing her to meet him out in their barn.
"I got out there and he had my favorite meal from my favorite restaurant and my favorite music and my favorite candle and he had moved all of the things from my old art studio where we used to have a loft in downtown," she shared. The moment definitely makes for a swoon-worthy story, with Erin explaining that Ben's special surprises are just one way he makes their marriage intentional.