Somehow Anna and Brent made a chilly winter day seem perfectly warm and cozy for their engagement session! I’ve known this beauty since college (she’s actually my great-grandbaby in our sorority, and yes – I realize that makes me sound super old!), and I was beyond thrilled when she chose me as her wedding photographer!!! They’ve also chosen one of my all-time favorite Richmond venues for their wedding – Amber Grove! With snow still on the ground, we took advantage of the stunning rustic backdrops for the first half of their engagement photos before heading to her family’s home by the water. Brent is an avid fisher, and Anna lovingly made sure we included a few detail shots to highlight that. And, we of course couldn’t forget to include their precious dog Ella!
Below you’ll find a handful of my favorite photos from their session, but first, I just have to share their sweet love story. Everything about it is just perfect… so I didn’t even want to paraphrase what Anna shared with me: We met at Inns Brook at one of their summer concerts. Brent was too nervous to come talk to me so his best friend came over and started talking to my me and my friend and then Brent wiggled his way into the conversation. After a little bit he asked me for my phone number and he spelled my name wrong… Then he said “I have one more beer token, want to share a beer?” A few weeks after that we went on our first date at Chuy’s Mexican restaurant. While telling his mom about the date afterwards we discovered that our parents were friends before Brent and I were born. When my parents moved to the area they joined the same church as his parents and were in bible study with them. Our moms were pregnant together (our birthdays are 2 days apart) and Brent’s mom found a picture of us as infants ring dedicated at church together. Eventually, my parents moved and everyone lost touch. Brent and I could have met at any time during adolescence but I’m a firm believer that fate waited to bring us together until we were both ready. We spent a few months together before Brent had to go back to school (6 hours away). It was hard but we made it work and saw each other about 2 times a month. I think both us knew pretty immediately this was it and were only together a little over a year before Brent proposed. We were at Oak Island for my moms 60th birthday. Half way through the week Brent asked if I wanted to go to the lighthouse. He got down on one knee in front of the lighthouse and popped the question. When we got back to the beach house my whole family was on the back porch to welcome us with champagne.
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