I have been dying to share Courtney and Dan’s engagement session with you, so I’m thrilled it’s featured today! There were so many memorable things about this session and these two, but I think the main thing we are all remembering from it was the HEAT. (literally and figuratively, people). It was basically over 100 degrees while we were shooting and 100% humidity, but even if it wasn’t that hot it probably still would have felt that way because these two were on fire the whole time. #modelstatus. I was a little nervous that the weather would make things a lot more challenging, but we couldn’t reschedule because they travelled many states to get here and it wasn’t storming, so we had to brave the sizzling temperatures and do our best! About 25 seconds into shooting I knew we were going to be just fine.

These two are total naturals in front of the camera, and absolutely gorgeous, so the only thing I really needed to worry about was the salty sweat creeping into my eye. We started in a nearby park and found all the shady spots we could until the sun dropped a little lower and we could walk on the beach. The glow through the trees was a dream. I forewarned them that I would likely start freaking out a bit and running around them with my step-stool (which did happen many times), and despite sharing sweat and excess body heat these two did everything I asked with the most enthusiastic attitude I could have hoped for. When I told them to fake laugh out loud (my fave) Dan belted a full on belly laugh, which almost had both Courtney and me on the ground cracking up. I’m sure you can identify the photo below where this moment happened!

Spending these couple hours with Court and Dan was just the best. Not only do I get to photograph my couple’s before their wedding day, I also get to just talk with them instead of keeping track of a timeline of events. We can laugh, exchange stories, and just get to know each other as friends. Courtney and Dan have known each other forever and their mannerisms, stories and way they love each other make this fact so apparent. Dan’s brother was actually in Courtney’s class, but their families grew up together and are very close, which I think is such a special experience and makes a huge impact on a marriage.

It’s easy to tell these two have the special sauce that dreams are made of and successful marriages are built. The way they look at each other that always turns into a smile on their faces, or the way they can move in and out of moments together as I would ask them to shift into another position and they would pick back up right in the moment they left off; he ebbs and she flows. They had a rhythm together that was as if they were totally in sync with what the other was thinking and it made MAGIC. I’m so excited to share in their celebration at Glen Ridge Country Club this September for their wedding day!!

From the second I saw Michele and Bobby coming down the boardwalk for our session, I knew it was going to be a good one. They just had that look about them – the biggest smiles on their faces, making eye contact, engaging in conversation – despite this being the first official time we were meeting, and they were a gorgeous couple. Needless to say I was very excited to photograph them! (And I was very happy that what had been a 100+ degree “real-feel” day with 100% humidity had subsided to the 80s with a light breeze keeping us all comfortable.)

Sea Girt has so much significance to Michele and Bobby, so it was quite fitting that we ended up shooting there. These two grew up with beach summers, got engaged by the water and will get married later this year right up the road in Spring Lake! As we walked the boardwalk they kept pointing out special places where various milestones in the relationship occurred and it was THE best. I felt like I was getting a behind the scenes look at the love story in the making!

Once the sun settled a little we headed towards the water and captured some of my favorite shots. They told me the story of Bobby proposing to Michele down by the water and how the ring box almost popped out of his pocket into the ocean waves, forcing him to improv, popping the question a little sooner and abruptly than he preferred. I thought it was absolutely perfect. It reminded me how life tends to be messy and not in our control, yet in some unplanned way comes together exactly how (or better than) we could have hoped. The sooner we can accept that and embrace it, the richer our lives will be.

As we spent time together, you could tell that these two are the real deal. It was beautiful to watch them so candid in front of the camera and natural with each other even with me in their faces and people right near us on the beach! The were constantly smiling at each other, laughing and having fun with everything. I barely had to direct them because everything they did was so perfect. I think I found myself saying, “Oh! What you just did, I love that, let’s do it again!” I cannot wait for their September wedding at the Spring Lake Golf Club. Today was just a glimpse of the perfection their big day will be!