Well, another incredible engagement session for the books. Gosh I just love my couples so much! Sydney and Chris booked their wedding with me months ago for June of 2020. I got my first glimpse at how awesome and laidback Sydney was one there was a complication with their wedding date and they had to change it after they had already booked me! Luckily I was still available for their new desired date, and it all worked out just fine. But I can’t imagine how stressful that must’ve been, so I admired Sydney for the grace she demonstrated through the whole thing! I was so excited to finally get their engagement session on the calendar so I could meet her and Chris in person! I knew we were going to get along great from our phone conversations, especially because we are all fellow native Long Islanders!
A few days before their session, Sydney and I grabbed coffee at Casa Blanca (my favorite coffee spot in town) to go over all of the details of their engagement photos, and to check in on how wedding planning was going (for the both of us!). I LOVED that she already had every intention of getting completely in the ocean and having a fun night with her fiance. She also asked if we could somehow incorporate cigars into the shoot, since those are sort of Chris’s “thing.” I told her that we could absolutely make that work, and even though I had never done anything like that before, I already had a vision of what I wanted to do with it in my head. And when it came to reality it was even cooler than I imagined!
Throughout the whole session, these two lovebirds were completely lost in each other. At one point I had given them a prompt before I walked over to the spot I would be shooting from. I turned around to find them already doing it (even though I wasn’t even shooting yet) because they totally forgot that was even the point. To me, that is the biggest victory EVER. Because I always tell my couples that their engagement session is more than just another step of the wedding planning process. I want it to be an EXPERIENCE and a sweet memory for them! Your engagement only lasts so long, and the time that you get to call each other “fiance” is short lived compared to the rest of your lives together. So why not celebrate this incredibly exciting time as best you can? Engagement sessions are so different than wedding portraits because you can take your time and get lost in the moments. It’s not like you have a room full of your favorite people waiting on you to get the party started like on your wedding night! So you can play, laugh, kiss A LOT, and maybe even get totally soaked in the ocean in each others arms. That will be sure to leave a lasting memory for sure! I still remember the night of my own engagement sessions as one of the most fun nights I have ever had with Jordan. We grabbed beers at Dockside with our photographer, then played around in the ocean with her, and had a dinner date at Mexican food just the two of us after. After the session wrapped up, I remember feeling like we were on cloud 9 and it was so fun to just soak it all in (over some fajitas of course). Anyway, that was a bit of a tangent but I am SO VERY GLAD that Sydney & Chris made the most their engagement session. The whole time they just kept saying “this is so fun” over and over again. They were giggly and couldn’t stop kissing each other and it made my heart so incredibly happy.
After I delivered the images, I got the most beautiful note from them that brought me to tears. Sydney wrote: “I know I have said it a million times but we really had the best time. It was so fun to be romantic, silly, laugh, and have a night about our love! We have talked about how much fun we had everyday since Sunday! You are so awesome and made us feel so comfortable!! I forgot at times that it wasn’t just Chris and I on the beach- that is how comfortable we were and how awesome it was! These pictures are truly beautiful and amazing and I am beyond impressed. All my friends and family who have seen the pictures are beyond impressed. I have gotten so many text and phone calls about these pictures!!! Everyone thinks I am a model now hahah, so thank you!! This experience has exceeded our expectations and we are blown away with your talents! These pictures are absolutely beautiful and words truly can’t express how much we love them!!!”
Thank you SO MUCH Sydney & Chris. I cannot wait for your June 2020 and continue growing our friendship until then! You two are clearly incredibly in love and I am so honored to be able to capture it.
Also just a side note–this is why I love Fort Fisher so much because just look at that LIGHT!! It will forever be one of my favorite session locations.
