A Longleaf Forest Engagement Session

Jessica knew she wanted to be able to celebrate with her family whenever the time came for Kevin to propose. Last fall, she suspected that day was drawing near, but Kevin still managed to catch her completely by surprise! With his parents and brother helping him to pull off the surprise, Kevin and Jessica went over to Kevin’s parents’ house. Upon arrival, Kevin’s brother said there was a big family announcement that would be revealed in the back yard.

She assumed the surprise wasn’t anything to do with her and wasn’t the least bit suspicious when she was told to put on a blindfold. Believing that she and Kevin were both blindfolded, Jessica was preoccupied with wondering what the announcement was. In reality, Jessica was the only one blindfolded and the whole family was in on the trick!

As they made their way into the yard, Jessica noticed it was super quiet. When she was told she could remove her blindfold, she found Kevin kneeling under an arch made of sunflowers. She said it took her breath away and answering was the easiest “YES!” ever! Best of all, when she turned around, she found that her entire family was there along with Kevin’s family and some of their friends. How special is that?! Y’all, these proposal stories are just the sweetest and I love hearing them.

Over the Rainbow

I’ve known Jessica’s grandmother for a number of years via church, so when Jessica got engaged, I heard the news from her grandmother first! I was so excited when I received an email from Jessica because I love photographing weddings for families I know!

We initially planned this session for several months ago, but we were rained out. Since Jessica and Kevin live in Huntsville, it took some coordination to get our schedules to line up again. Their wedding day is just around the corner, so I’m so glad we were able to find some time to take engagement portraits this month!

Jessica and Kevin chose the Longleaf Pine Forest at the Mobile Botanical Gardens for their session. I always love taking portraits at this location. The light on this day was beyond dreamy and golden! I was in heaven! At the very end of the session I suggested we zip across the street to Langan Park for a few more photos. As we got out of the car, I heard Jessica say, “there’s a rainbow!”

I knew I had to try to capture the rainbow in some photos! We dashed across the parking lot and, to my surprise, the rainbow hung around long enough for me to take a series of photos. It was the perfect ending to a dreamy session!