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Engagement photos mark the beginning of
… the beginning
… the beginning
“When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible,” says one-half of Hollywood’s favorite reluctant lovers, Harry. (Other half, of course, Sally).
Getting married marks a beginning, a trip to the altar of the rest of your life. But also, it’s kind of an end, an end to the methodical steps it took to get there. Friendship … dating … falling … love … “Will you?” … “Yes!” … then planning, planning and more planning. (And paying.) “We do!”
But the one constant (other than paying), especially in this age of rabid documentation, is the photographic memorialization of each relationship mile marker. An important to-do if only to give future kids and grandkids something from which to get a good chuckle as styles change. (My condolences to those who got married in the ‘80s.)
Engagement sessions are the first opportunity for a couple to professionally capture their commitment. Ahead of the ceremony’s pageantry, it’s a casual way to showcase a love story and even, perhaps, a new, collective personality. Or to speak in “now” terms, a couples’ brand. Partners are in curated outfits of choice and in settings not necessarily meant to be a rentable venue. Nooooo one else is there. It’s intimate, it’s personal, and for these first photos, you can get away with being a bit light-hearted and silly.
HALEE & ALEX
Despite both growing up in the Tampa Bay area, Alex and Halee didn’t meet until several months before graduation from Florida State University. They met through mutual friends at an iconic college watering hole, Pots. Seven inseparable years later, Alex proposed at Halee’s family beach house on Long Beach Island, N.J.
“I’m not usually a fan of surprises, but I always told him the proposal was the one surprise I actually wanted, and he pulled it off!”
They wanted engagement photos taken to serve both wedding-related events and feel classic enough for décor in their home. Halee and Alex have also used the photos for save-the-date announcements and the gallery on their wedding website.
“We wanted our engagement photos to feel unique and be different from the pictures we already have together. We chose the Center for the Arts because it offers such a variety of beautiful backdrops, from its stunning architecture to the outdoor gardens. We felt we could capture many diverse shots in one location and that the photos would feel timeless, not just tied to the wedding.”
Since they are seasonless Floridians, it was exciting to have the shoot during the autumn months in Virginia with changing leaves as a backdrop. “It was breathtaking,” Halee recalls, “and adds so much magic to the photos.”
Their ceremony was held in November of 2025 in their home state surrounded by friends and family. And now the two are excited to have begun this next chapter of their lives in Virginia, Halee as a director of finance and Alex as an orthopedic surgery resident.
MADYSON & JACK
Madyson and Jack met on Hinge (a popular dating app) in the fall of 2021. After an all-nighter talking about books, dogs, coffee and wine and a quick-to-follow first, then second, date with a bottle of tempranillo under a full moon — spoiler alert(!) — the app got deleted, just one week after it was downloaded.
Jack is from Northern Virginia, and Madyson is from Bristol, Tenn. They are both graduates of Virginia Tech, and since 2023 have been dating long distance — Madyson at law school at Washington and Lee and Jack as an Officer in the United States Army on active duty in Texas. The Ecco Adesso Vineyards near Lexington, Va., served as a frequent meeting spot for the couple to escape the stress of law school, military life and the emotional rigor of navigating separation. It also, as it turns out, served as a memorable spot for a certain proposal.
“He flew into D.C., borrowed a car from his parents, and drove to Lexington to surprise me. It was a Saturday afternoon that I thought was just another winery outing with my law school friends. As we were walking up the hill to the tasting room, Jack popped out from under an awning and asked the question!”
They intentionally targeted a park in Blacksburg for engagement photos and chose Heritage Park because of the expansive mountain views and fall foliage colors. Their session was unique due to a few personal details.
“The wine bottle is actually a similar tempranillo to the one Jack and I shared on our second date in a park in Blacksburg. The bouquet of flowers was used by my mom and a few of my aunts in their bridal portraits, and the picnic basket was a gift from my grandmother to my mom.”
Similarly, Madyson and Jack plan to use the photos in save-the-date announcements and to build out a wedding website. Until then, having them sprinkled around home and work makes the distance feel just a little closer.
Madyson is now practicing law in Roanoke and counting down the months until their wedding in October of 2027 at the Inn at Willow Grove in Orange, Virginia … and the subsequent beginning of life in the same town, under the same roof, for the first time in years.
Text by Nancy S. Moseley
Photos by Kaytlin McCoy
[KaytlinLanePhotography.com]
Photos by Kaytlin McCoy
[KaytlinLanePhotography.com]
