rachel + daniel | a downtown ellicott city engagement with their dog

On a bright and beautiful Fall day, I explored downtown Ellicott City with Rachel, Daniel and Asher, their incredibly well-behaved and photogenic #urbanrowpup! We walked near the B&O Railroad Museum, downtown Main Street and some of my favorite woodsy spots along the old trolley trail.

I couldn’t get enough of our time together — Rachel and Daniel are so naturally at ease with each other and always full of the biggest smiles! We bonded over dog training conversations because Asher is the best and including him in their engagement photos was a priority! He’s also going to be at their wedding and I am SO EXCITED FOR IT! :)

The cutest story of how these two met and became soulmates, in Rachel’s words:

“As two chronically injured athletes, we were regulars in the athletic department's training room. Daniel was recovering from hip surgery while Rachel had stress fractures in her shins. The trainer who both helped us through our recoveries would always talk about the other person, trying to set us up. Over Thanksgiving break, Daniel had a friend to start a conversation on Facebook for him, starting with the smooth opening line: "Hey, haven't seen you around the training room recently" Luckily, Daniel eventually took over the conversation and we've never stopped talking!”

I love their proposal story, and how it happened during one of the things they love doing most: travel!

“After canceling so much travel in 2020 due to Covid, we finally were able to start traveling again, something we love doing together. We went out to California to see Big Sur and San Francisco. The day we were leaving the resort in Big Sur, we took one final picture overlooking the Pacific Ocean and next thing I know, Daniel was down on one knee! It happened so fast and right when it was over, we hopped in the car to drive up the coast to San Fransisco.”

Rachel and Daniel, the way you are together is so effortless, comfortable, confident and genuine — it’s been such a joy to witness your love story unfolding and I can’t wait to see you both officially married (with Asher there to witness!) at Historic London Town & Gardens!!

xo,
Naomi

katherine + ben | cozy fall cromwell valley park engagement

Katherine commented on Ben's bowtie and that started their first conversation — fast forward a few years to their fast approaching wedding day where Ben will be wearing another bowtie and looking as dapper as ever…

These lovebirds are continually laughing and sharing friendly competition with their favorite pro sports teams AND working out at the gym; “I've never laughed so genuinely in my life and love Ben's jokes (the good ones and the dumb ones). I love the times that Ben and I can spend working out as well as cooking/baking together - he makes life so fun. And - we both love that we often unintentionally end up wearing matching outfits!”

How’d the proposal happen?

“After attending 5+ weddings for friends and family in 2021, we decided we wanted some time away just to ourselves. We booked a trip to Savannah and arrived on a Thursday night. We woke up Friday, grabbed coffee, and walked around the streets of Savannah all morning. After a day of touring, we grabbed drinks at the hotel in the early evening and Ben proposed right on the riverfront.”

Cheers to you, Katherine and Ben! I can’t wait for you to host all of your friends and family for a fun, uniquely Baltimore wedding at the AVAM! And I love how Katherine is excited to “be spun around the dance floor by Ben (even though I'm awful at dancing) because I know we'll be laughing and beaming with smiles the whole time…”

xo,
Naomi

madeline + jacob | a colorado inspired engagement at patapsco state park

I met up with Madeline and Jacob in Patapsco State Park for their engagement photos on a cloudy day in late October and not only were the trees ON POINT, but these lovebirds were complete naturals at taking their shoes off (well, ok, maybe just Madeline… Jacob needed to make sure neither of us slipped on the wet rocks!) and being comfortable in the woods together!

We walked over a suspension bridge, climbed on rocks, sat on fallen trees and stood in beautiful riverbeds among smooth rocks… couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful backdrop for these photos! Thanks for being so up to explore with me, Madeline + Jacob; it was so worth it!!

You had the best vision for your nature inspired woodsy engagement session — I love how perfectly coordinated your outfit colors were to the Fall colors in Patapsco State Park!! It felt like we could have been in Colorado, if you ask me! ;)

Here’s to getting you married and continuing the adventures together for decades to come… I can’t wait to see your smiling faces again and all the fall vibes you’ve planned at the Intercontinental Wharf DC for your gorgeous wedding day!!!

xo,
Naomi

britton + andrew | a cute, nature-filled engagement at jerusalem mill

These high school sweethearts have a once-in-a-lifetime love that began the summer after their junior year while at Young Life Camp in VA… the way they look at each other is everything. Britton and Andrew, you are an inspiration and so much fun to photograph!! Thank you for being you… totally and completely in love and not afraid to show it.

Britton grew up on a farm with a beautiful stone house and we tried to find a location that could recreate it for these photos. I love that it worked out so perfectly: we had the stone ruins all to ourselves and playing in a river has never been so much fun!

“When you have a camp crush, it’s tradition to give them a spoon at the dining hall to show that you like them. He gave me a spoon and I gave him a fork in return because I didn't want to upset the other Andrew and leave him in the dust. We didn't have phones at camp, but he had me write my number on his arm the last day as the busses were leaving. We started hanging out as friends and had planned to do so for a couple months, but that only lasted one month because we really started falling for each other :). The rest is history!”

Here’s how the proposal unfolded, in Andrew’s words:

”I wanted the proposal to be meaningful and not something that could apply to every other couple. I had been thinking about doing it in Hunt Valley shopping center for awhile since that was where we had our first date. Hunt Valley isn't the most scenic spot in the world, but I knew that at Christmas time there was a 50 ft tree that they put up right in the center.

I decided to fly her best friend up from South Carolina unbeknownst to her, to surprise her during the engagement. I asked her to go out to brunch with me after church on a Sunday morning that we were sitting at home and she started crying. After calming her down, we went to brunch and I had her completely convinced that nothing was going on because I was completely calm (meanwhile freaking out on the inside towards the end of the brunch, but I'm a good actor so she had no idea). We started walking back to the car and as we got to the tree her best friend popped out and surprised her. She started crying immediately and went to go hug her friend. Her friend pulled out an ornament from a bag (that mine and Britton’s mom had made together) that said “Will You Marry Me?” She turned around and I got down on one knee. I said a few prepared things and then asked her to marry me. I went to put the ring on her finger and found out that I had been holding the ring box upside down the entire time… Pretty ridiculous. But she still said yes!”

Britton + Andrew, you two have such a special connection and zest for life, I can’t even fully put it into words!! I feel so grateful you chose me to document this exciting time in your lives, I can not wait for your Wyndridge Farm wedding THIS WEEKEND!!!

xo,
Naomi