Evelyn and Isaiah’s engagement session was all sorts of fun! I’m the luckiest to have clients (who are more like friends than anything!) who bring me along to photograph their love in some of their favorite locations. These two chose the Point Pleasant board walk for their session, because Evelyn used to visit there with her family when she was growing up. I love locations with such special significance. Together, they are so joy-filled and easygoing; they’re such a fun pair to hang out with. We got cotton candy and hot cocoa at a local candy store, walked up and down the boards, went into the arcade, and, of course, made our way to the beach! It was closed for the season, so the beach was empty and super peaceful. Oh, and a huge bonus, the ocean was still so warm!
Long distance is not an easy feat, but Evelyn said, “It was as if I got shot by Cupid,” when she realized that she had an interest in Isaiah who is from Chicago. In 2014, she was living in Chicago for almost a year doing a discipleship program through the church that he attends. It took her until the last few weeks that she was out there to realize what she was feeling, so a friend passed the word along to him that she was interested. Thankfully, Isaiah made a move! At the program graduation, he gave her a congratulations card with a Starbucks gift card because she loves coffee! (Girl, SAME!) He wrote his number in the card, and a few days later, they began their long distance journey full of love together. She said, “I truly found the love of my life and couldn’t be happier.”
Their proposal story was a wild ride! Isaiah had flown in from Chicago to propose on a Friday; however, on that Thursday night, Evelyn was involved in a very scary incident with a creepy man that required police support and a whole lot of emotions for Evelyn and her family. Isaiah was staying at Evelyn’s sisters house to surprise Evelyn the next day, but when Friday rolled around, she wasn’t up for leaving the house due to what she had been through. Her sister tried everything to get her to come over until she finally had to pretend that a detective was there and needed to speak with her. This got Evelyn to come over and she said, “As I turn the corner I’m noticing that only my sister’s truck is there. I’m thinking this detective got me out of the house for nothing! But then I turn towards my sisters front door and my fiancé is sitting there waiting for me. I ran to him and just hugged him. It never crossed my mind he was there to propose, I just loved that he was there. So he brings me inside and he has white balloons set up with pictures of us hanging from them and balloons all over the floor. He gave me two gifts, one was a perfume he had gotten for me back in February and another was a peonies frame from Singapore (he got while on a trip there). The balloons, perfume and peonies all had a meaning, which was beautiful. Finally he got on one knee and gave me a sweet speech and asked me to be his wife! I was so surprised, crying like a baby.” What an incredible pick-me-up from such a rollercoaster of a weekend. I am so happy to see that distance really does make the heart grow fonder. These two are a huge testament to that! I can’t wait to photograph their Hoboken wedding in December; it’s going to be an amazing day for two incredibly deserving people!
