Especially around this time of year, I think we can all agree that there is really no place like home. Monica and Joe recently moved to Virginia but made time for their engagement session while they were back in New Jersey visiting for Monica’s college’s 150th anniversary! We took advantage of them being in town during this beautiful fall weekend and headed over to Thompson Park for their photos. This was a such a cool location from the mansion and lake to the fields with all the tall grass, my favorite!! Monica and Joe are so much fun and I’m so glad we chose to spend a few hours during their time in NJ to capture these perfect moments!
When Monica and I first started chatting, I asked her to tell me a little bit more about her and Joe’s relationship. Since they had just moved, she started her response with, “We’re working on getting settled, and what better way than a glass of wine and talking about ourselves?” Oh man, that’s why I love these two! Together, they are huge soccer fans and Arsenal is their team! They both have their own favorite teams from when they were growing up, but Arsenal is the one team they can both agree to root for together. They discovered this intense love for sports from the moment they met. Monica found Joe on an online dating site, and she messaged him after she saw that he was a huge sports fan. They both felt incredibly comfortable with each other from the first time they met. She said, “We can have talks about various subjects and rib each other over the other’s poor choice in sports teams. Among other things, he keeps me sane and reminds me to breathe (something that I’m incredibly thankful for this past week!). I am his sounding board and, according to him, I am “everything”.” So sweet, I love this kind of love!!!
Their proposal story is one for the books, for sure! Monica said, “We were planning on going mini golfing while on vacation in Emerald Isle, NC at a place we had played last year. It’s one of my favorite beach traditions from growing up! Last year we found a chain location of the place my family played at on vacation while I was growing up. Joe figured we would play the same course we played last year and knew the exact hole where he would propose. I threw his plans completely off course by insisting we play the other course that we didn’t play last year. He had to adjust on the fly! We get to hole #7 which is inside a cave structure (the golf course theme is a treasure hunt). He shoots first and gets a hole-in-one! I take my turn and I ringed the cup, which irked me cause I can’t give him the win that easily! I walked by the hole toward my ball, giving it the evil eye for rejecting my ball, and I saw what looked like a piece of black garbage bag in the hole (its dimly lit inside the cave). I literally said “What the hell is in the hole?”, took a step closer, saw the ring box, and said “…oh.” He got down on one knee and asked me very sweetly to marry him and I said yes! Both of our golf games were shot after that, but it was worth it. Joe told me to include that he still won the golf game :)” I just adore how their competitive mini golf game turned into one of the best surprises! And better yet, they brought the score card and golf clubs to their engagement session!!
Monica and Joe, you two are a dream to work with! I couldn’t be more thankful that you spent some time during your trip exploring Thompson Park with me! You two exude so much happiness and heart; it is such a pleasure to know you. I cannot wait to celebrate with you both on your wedding day, it’s going to be a blast!
Pictures look great, you look beautiful and happy Monica!! -love heather