I first met Raquel at the bridal shower for one of my good friends, one of my 2017 brides, and talented hair & makeup artist, Michelle Magee. Raquel is so friendly, funny, and easy to talk to, so it was easy to call her an instant friend! 🙂 And now I’m so excited to be part of this season of engagement for Raquel too! For Raquel & Brian’s engagement session we visited a bunch of great spots in Philadelphia where they live with their sweet puppy Trent. We captured some the urban vibes of Manayunk and the beautiful bridge architecture, as well as boathouse row and of course the Philadelphia Art Museum. Even though it was pretty cold the day of our shoot, you would never know it. Raquel and Brian are such troopers, and were such naturals in front of my camera. These two are so playful and happy together, you can just tell that they’re truly best friends.
Raquel and Brian first met in as freshmen in high school. Raquel said that they were dance partners in a friend’s cotillion and the whole summer they spent practicing, she asked to be paired with someone else because Brian’s dancing skills weren’t quite up to snuff. 😉 They reconnected fourteen years later, when Raquel was crashing at Brian’s place prior to a race she was running in Philadelphia. They hung out and got lunch before Brian had to go to work that night, and Raquel kept thinking: “this is NOT the Brian I have known for half my life”. She wrote, “That night, after he got back from work and we went out to grab a beer, as we sat on his couch I thought “… YOLO” and I said “Are you going to kiss me now or what?” and…. he did. It’s been the whirlwind of a lifetime since.” They dated long distance for two years until Raquel recently moved to Philly with Brian!
Now just wait until you hear this sweet proposal story! Raquel told me, “the proposal happened in Spring Lake, NJ on the beach. It was Thursday, July 20th. His family had gotten off the beach (some were visiting from out of state) and I was meeting for dinner. Brian asked me to come hang on the beach for a bit because the house wouldn’t accommodate everyone getting ready at once. We sat around for an hour and he suddenly popped up and said “OMG i totally forgot to show you what I found earlier!” He took out a conch shell. The freaking thing was PRISTINE. I told him there was NO way he could’ve found it … it was in such great condition. As I was admiring it, i turned it over to find he’d written (in portuguese – my parents were both born there) “will you marry me?” i died. no seriously. my response was “i think i’m going to be sick”. the photos my mom’s friend was taking this entire time will prove it – total ugly cry. hahha but honestly, the best day ever!”
Thank you Raquel and Brian for such a fun evening eploring Manayunk! I cannot wait for your wedding day in October!!
