An Evening Engagement in Philadelphia

Andrew & Skyler

We finally got to photograph Andrew & Skyler! We’ve known Skyler and her family for years, and have photographed them on multiple occasions, and we couldn’t be more excited to create some great photographs for this family. Andrew and Skyler have always been together in our minds, and so we were so thrilled to hear they got engaged, and that they wanted to us to photograph the wedding. Photographing for friends and family is always wonderful, and we’re honored to have that opportunity. These two were so incredibly easy to photograph… even in the 98 degree weather we had during their session. They crushed it! It was so much fun and we can’t wait to do it all over again at the wedding!

Q: How did the proposal go down?

We got engaged April 10, the day after Easter. Andrew wanted it to be a surprise, so he worked hard on coordinating it with a bunch of people while not wanting to risk giving it away. I had been anticipating the proposal for months and was more than ready to be engaged. I knew it was coming soon, but I didn’t know just how soon! When I came home from school for Easter break, I had been picking up on suspicious vibes from Andrew. Things that he would usually say, “I don’t care, whatever you want!” about, he had carefully planned.

However, there was a lot going in our families at the time, so I doubted that he could have put a plan together around it all. Andrew had some nervous moments; one was when Skyler was getting her nails done and the salon messed them up, so he had to get one of her friends to convince her to get them fixed.

We went out to lunch, and then went to Valley Forge park and went on a walk. As we walked up to the National Memorial Arch, Andrew got very quiet. Then, as we came around the side of the arch, Skyler spotted one of our friends who’s a photographer. That’s when she realized what was happening! Cue the waterworks!

Neither of us fully remember what Andrew said, but thankfully he wrote it down so we could both look back on it. After Andrew proposed, we spent hours at the park FaceTiming our friends and family. Then, when we came back to my house, our parents and siblings had planned a mini party for us! Andrew described later that he was nervous, not that Skyler would say no, but just about making it the most perfect day we could’ve imagined. And it was!

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

We’ve been together for almost five years, and we’ve been dreaming about our wedding and being married for years now. It feels so surreal and like a full circle moment to finally be planning for real and turning all of our dreams into reality.

Q: What advice to you have for other couples planning their own weddings?

Even though our engagement is on the longer side, we started planning pretty quickly. At first we were self-conscious about this, wondering if we were jumping the gun. But, we’re now so relieved to have so much done so early in our engagement. It’s taken a lot of pressure off of us and allowed us to enjoy the process more. Another thing that’s made a huge difference for us is having a shared form of organization. We have a shared Google Drive folder where we keep all our vendor information, guest list, etc. It’s been so helpful to visualize everything and also lets us work on things both together and individually. Also, you hear it all the time, but it’s really true: this process is about YOU! The wedding is about you! While it’s good to take other people’s opinions into account, ultimately it’s you and your fiance’s wants and needs that matter the most.

To Andrew & Skyler:

We had the best time with you last week at your engagement session! You both were naturals and so fun to photograph! Thanks for being so easy and go-with the flow in the crazy heat, and for being up for all the crazy prompts we threw your way. You guys did great! Looking forward to the wedding, and to the show you the rest of these engagement photos! Until then, we hope you enjoy this preview from your evening engagement in Philadelphia!