MICHELE & CHRIS

Engaged  |  Newburgh, New York

Michele and Chris’ love story starts out similar to many, but quickly turns into something unique and unforgettable. The story begins two-fold; first, the matchmakers, in Michele and Chris’ case, their mothers. Audra and Angela co-own a company together and has been telling their kids for a while that they would be a great mach and should meet. Naturally, they responded only half convinced that their mother’s knew who they were looking for and didn’t pursue a relationship for a while later until, finally, Chris decided to make the connection. It began with an invitation to connect on LinkedIn in which Michele first thought Chris was a recruiter and stayed standoffish. After some convincing, Michele gave him her phone number and two weeks later they were going on their first date!

Chris courted Michele for over a year, and throughout that time they realized that their mother’s were more than right. They realized that not only were they a great match together, they were also head over heels in love and knew they had found their forever best friend. It was time to take their relationship to the next level, and the opportunity arose in conjunction with Chris’ stepfather’s retirement party from the FDNY. The family was taking a celebratory cruise vacation and Chris would pop the question to Michele at the end of the trip surrounded by the family. Of course, our best laid plans always end up taking a slightly different route that we usually envision. Luckily, Chris’ relaxed personality was able to keep up with the spontaneity and still surprise Michele with a proposal.

Within hours of boarding the ship and getting settled, Michele had seen Chris pull out a small jewelry box while his back was turned towards her. She immediately assumed the obvious and rushed to tell Chris’ sister what she had seen. Courtney played along in great surprise, despite the WHOLE family knowing a proposal was only a few days away. In an effort to remedy the situation, she told Chris who promptly addressed Michele apologizing that she thought it was a ring and saying it was actually earrings that he was going to give her for her birthday. In that moment of overwhelm a rush of adrenaline and emotion took over Michele and she welled up in tears. Not only was she let down, but also embarrassed for making such a fuss about it on their family vacation. At dinner that night, Michele was still reeling from the events before and trying to keep herself together when suddenly Chris got up and left the table. She was confused and hoped that she hadn’t upset him and ruined the whole trip, but when he returned he tapped her on the shoulder to turn around. “If there’s one thing I learned,” he said, “it’s that I never want to hurt your feelings” and he got down on one knee, pulled out the small box she had seen earlier and revealed a sparkling diamond ring. The table of 14 people were caught in surprise, but immediately started celebrating the newly engaged couple and they haven’t stopped since!

Photographing Michele and Chris was as natural as it gets. They brought their fur baby, Buster, and we just walked along the lake in their hometown and laughed the whole time. I know that their wedding is going to be one of the most joyful days of their lives and I cannot wait to celebrate this next step in their relationship with them in May.

Enjoy!