Joyous Engagement Session at Laurels Preserve

Johnny & Kate

We met up with Johnny and Kate for their joyous engagement session at Laurels Preserve and these two knocked it out of the park. I say joyous because they didn’t stop smiling, laughing, and goofing around with each other the entire time. In fact, they were all over each other for the full session. Even in between poses and pictures, they constantly held hands, gave hugs and kisses, and made our life as a photographer soo easy! I’ve found that the couples who cling to each other even when the camera is down are the ones that walk away with the most authentic photos. It allows us to capture the “in-between” which turn out to be some of the most wonderful pictures since they’re photos we didn’t plan to take. They’re fully natural and completely genuine. These two also went along with all of our crazy prompts, added their own twist to it and made them their own. Johnny and Kate were just too much fun to photograph!

Q: Tell us your proposal story? How did it happen?

Johnny and I planned a holiday party for all of our friends and family on December 10, 2022. As we were getting dressed and readying the house, Johnny pulled me aside near the Christmas tree and gave me a small package to open. Inside a box sat a Christmas ornament depicting a pick-up truck with a Christmas tree in the bed, and in tiny letters on the license plate, read the words ‘We Got Engaged.’ I read it, and honestly thought I missed something…So I turned to ask Johnny what that meant – only to see Johnny down on one knee with an engagement ring in his hand. I may have shouted some nonsense and jumped around in circles before saying yes…but of course I said yes. I’m not the best with surprises and I’ll be forever thankful that the love of my life understood me and gave us a private moment to celebrate our new milestone. And shortly after our family and friends arrived so we could celebrate together!

Q: What’s the best part about being engaged?

The status of boyfriend/girlfriend always somehow seemed to fall short in describing our relationship. We always talk about each other in terms of a team, partnership, love of our life, etc…Becoming fiances and eventually husband and wife feels so much more accurate and exciting to us. Our family and friends are incredibly supportive so it’s been such a fun time in our lives.

Q: Any advice you want to share to other couples planning their own wedding?

Have fun with it!! We love going out for dinner or to our favorite bars, have some great food and drink, and casually chat about our wedding. All of the decisions we’ve made thus far have been the result of one of us saying ‘well what if we did this…’ and then running with the idea. And whenever a certain aspect of wedding planning becomes stressful, take time away from it (phones off, social media off) and talk about the honeymoon, a future house, future trips, etc. Then circle back once it no longer feels as stressful! Always remember to be a team through it all.

To Johnny & Kate:

You guys!! Thanks for introducing us to Laurels Preserve, and for being so wonderful to photograph. You both were seriously the best, and made our job behind camera so incredibly fun and effortless. I am in love with these pictures and we really hope you love them just as much as we do. Can’t wait to show you the rest of them, but until the gallery is ready, we hope you enjoy this sneak peek from your joyous engagement session at Laurels Preserve.