Katherine & Steve are one of those couples that had to postpone their engagement session and wedding date quite a few times because of Covid.

When we finally got the chance to be out and about again we talked about location and what better place than the town where they met for the first time in person, Leesburg, Virginia.

After meeting on eHarmony, they decided it was time to meet in person hoping that the connection was there just like it was via messages. It took them forever to order an appetizer because they couldn’t stop talking. At one point she asked Steve to stand up so she could take a better look at him and she asked him on a second date before the first one was over!

He immediately knew there was something special so he saved the receipt and gave it to her on their first anniversary!

I first met Adrienne & Ricky at another wedding I shot. Ricky was one of the groomsmen. So when it was time for them to choose a wedding photographer, they knew they had to contact me! Right from our first call we knew we were a match and I couldn’t wait to meet sweet Madison in person!

“We can all get knocked down and bad things can happen to anybody, no matter how high they might be riding at the time.” Cameron

“Thinking back at my life changing experience, I don’t know how I would have survived it without him.” Erika

Getting to know who my couples are, goes way beyond knowing how they met and how he proposed. It is part of a process that goes way deeper. It’s about building a relationship, a trust. Only then they can truly feel comfortable during their engagement sessions and in front of my camera.

When I met with Kristin & Shawn for their engagement portraits they were really excited and at the same time they were visibly nervous.

Sometimes we are raised with the idea that portraits have to be straight forward, looking at the camera, fake, cheesy smiles. And even though I go over the process with all of my couples, those first 10 minutes sometimes can be intimidating… On the contrary though, Kristin & Shawn got comfortable by spending a relaxing late afternoon at the lake, knowing that they were going to be doing one of their favorite hobbies, spending quality time with each at one of their favorite locations, Smith Mountain Lake.

Here is a little bit about them!
How did you meet?: We met in a class at Virginia Tech. (Go Hokies!) we were in a group for small business management and our other two partners were of NO help. It was just often us two working on it and our relationship grew from there!

How they met: They were in the same math class in 7th grade , at the young age of eleven! Throughout school years they were only friends , even though they always had a thing for each other . They used to meet up at a local baseball field parking lot and sit in the car and talk for hours and hours. “We were always so open and able to be our genuine selves with one another” said Alyson.

She remembers in class she was always a good girl, doing her work and paying attention. On the other hand, he was the athlete, who liked to play around too much. “I remember his mom would always have to come into our classroom to make sure he would be doing his work. The teacher would ask a question to the entire class, and his mom would smack him in the back of his head and make him raise his hand to answer the question that he had no clue what it was! I don’t know why that has always stuck out to me!”

Like a lot of couples nowadays, Katie & Sean met on tinder. It was immediately a match.

Not long after, they were visiting some friends in Houston, Texas and they were having dinner at this unique restaurant called, One Fifth. When this restaurant first opened they were given the lease for only five years and the owner of the restaurant liked the challenge, so he decided to have a different theme each year. (That’s where the name One Fifth came from!) They open in September with a new theme, go through til the end of July, then close the restaurant to do renovations so they can present the new one again the next September.

When Katie & Sean were there the theme was “Romance Languages”, which was the perfect one for a proposal! Katie said “we sat down to eat, then right after Sean was ordering champagne to do a toast and then all at a sudden he was proposing!”

How they met:

Adam & Kimberly met while finishing their last semester at Virginia Tech in the Spring of 2016. Their first date happened to be on Valentines Day! They then graduated together in May of 2016 and both moved to Roanoke to start their new adventure together.

The first time I met Andrea, she was the bridesmaid AND wedding planner at one of my previous weddings. When she contacted me about being her wedding photographer, she still didn’t have a date set and I got worried I wasn’t going to be able to photograph it, since I already had a good number of dates booked. Andrea, on the other side wasn’t worried at all. She said “no worries, we’ll book a date that you still have available!” and so she did…

What is your favorite thing to do together?: 
“We love to cook together when we can! Whether it’s a meal completely from scratch or a Blue Apron meal (that Tyler always makes fun of Andrea for ordering); it’s always fun to get in the kitchen, drink some wine and make a meal together”.

We also enjoy going out to a sports bar, hanging out and watching football when we are able. It’s nice to sit back and relax on a Sunday after a busy weekend in the hospitality world.

When you think of an engagement session different than other ones and out of the ordinary, well this is it!
When I met Sarah & Alex I knew immediately that they would be fun, but never did I know that they would push me outside my comfort zone…

We started the portraits with their super cute and very suspicious puppy, Kali. She could not get comfortable for pictures.. Seeing her expressions was hilarious! Like why did they bring me out here?! And why is that lady following us around?! I can’t get over with how cute she is..

They then went for a romantic canoe ride and the light was just perfect. They had told me their story and even though I am terrified of any kind of reptiles, I knew it would make their day to include some sort of lizard in their pictures, so I asked them and their faces literally lit up…

We ended up hiking and chasing a beautiful sunset overlooking the Appalachian Mountains…
Here is more about them!

When I first Skyped with Emily & Chris I knew that we would get along… One of their favorite things to do is cooking! And coming from an Italian family cooking has always been a big thing for us. Dinner time, as most of my friends know, is very important to us. It’s the time when, after a full day of working, running errands, my son’s thousands of activities we finally get to sit together and chat while we enjoy a meal.

The evening we were Skyping, Chris was cooking meatballs!!! A match made in heaven!

We started off their engagement session picking apples at the Carter Mountain Orchard , then we headed towards the University of Virginia which is where they both went to college. Here is a little more of their story…