I knew I was going to be excited about this shoot when Zari emailed me saying she wanted to do something a little different … she had these FABULOUS high end designer dresses lined up along with some new places I’ve never explored before. And one of these particular places, The Hay Adams Hotel, overlooks the white house and the Washington Monument … absolutely gorgeous! What we thought was funny when we noticed a helicopter take off from the White House in the background … who knows, maybe President Obama photo bombed their photos! Lol!
Every day approaching their engagement session we were crossing fingers in the hopes the rain would stay away! I feel like I’ve been saying this for every blog post now because the rain has been pretty frequent so far. In fact, the weather might change my ENTIRE schedule for this week of sessions … such a bummer!!! I am SO glad this session worked out after … although, Friday traffic in D.C. isn’t the best. Ohhhhhh D.C. … at least you’re gorgeous for a backdrop! These two were such a fun couple to not only photograph but to hang out with for our time together! D.C. was the perfect location for these two as they grew up in this city. To really share an example of how fun they are, they did something a little different … they both wrote the story below from their own point of view and revealing it to each other for the first time on this blog as a little surprise and for a little fun. 🙂 Such a cute and HILARIOUS way of doing this! You two are such joy to have as my May 2015 bride and groom! Cannot wait until then!!!
How Sean & Zari Met
from Zari’s point of view
Sean and Zari first met many years ago, when Zari first moved to Arlington post-college with her roommates Alex and Megan. While throwing a housewarming party with close friends, Zari was briefly introduced to Sean, Megan’s childhood friend. It wasn’t until a few years later, when their paths would cross again. Zari and three of her closest friends including Megan threw a “White Party” to end the summer strong. Megan had mentioned that she had invited her friend Sean. Attempting to be a match maker, she informed Zari about the guest she just had to meet! While socializing with friends all in their best white outfits, in walks this handsome guy, wearing white skinny jeans, thick-framed nerd glasses, and a t-shirt that read “Don’t Sweat my Swag.” Zari was shocked that someone would come to the party dressed so goofy, only to realize soon after, this was “Sean.” Megan told Zari, “look past the outfit”, as his playful side was clearly represented by the t-shirt. Well, Megan could not have been more right. Zari and Sean began chatting it up and practically spent the entire party together. Luckily, when Sean asked Zari on their first real date he left the thick-framed glasses behind, but still brought his swag.
The Proposal
from Sean’s point of view
Zari and I both love to travel and we enjoy planning many of the details for our vacations. I ended up losing a bet to Zari, a rare occurrence, in the fall of 2013 and the stakes were high – planning and coordinating our next vacation. Although I had planned a previous trip fairly well, I wanted this one to be special since it was around Christmas. Zari and I had been together for almost a year and a half at this point, but in a good way it seemed much longer than that as we had already shared and experienced so many wonderful times together. I settled on a long weekend in NYC, which she was aware of, but I of course kept private what I was carrying in my jacket pocket as we boarded the train to the Big Apple.
After checking into our hotel early (thanks for calling, Mom!), I asked Zari what she wanted to do and I could sense she was a bit upset since I was supposed to have organized some of the trip. We left the room and grabbed a bite to eat at an unknowingly fancy café where our nearby patrons discussed multimillion dollar real estate transactions and flying their private jets. We may have been a little out of place, but as par for the course, we followed the tips of Yelp and enjoyed our meal. After we ate I conned Zari into visiting the zoo in Central Park, solely because I wanted to get us into Central Park without her thinking of anything suspicious. Once we finished hanging out with the penguins and seals we walked towards the Gapstow Bridge (think Home Alone 2), where I had a photographer lined up for the special moment (thanks Wendy and Pia!). As we got to the bridge I became a bit nervous as I didn’t see Wendy at first, the photographer, and to add to that, two other proposals occurred nearby literally within seconds. Way to blow my cover! After a second loop around the Gapstow Bridge area I spotted Wendy and we headed down towards our preplanned location so that Wendy could capture the moment with the bridge in the background. I settled on this vantage point because Zari has an affinity for bridges and the backdrop of the city looked amazing.
As for the proposal itself, I had a nice, well thought out speech in mind but as I knelt down all of that went out the window. The last thing I remember saying was, ‘your parents said this was OK,’ and I pulled the ring out and she tearfully hugged me and said yes! After pointing out and thanking Wendy, we called our parents to share our exciting news. We then exited Central Park and had a nice dinner and capped off the evening with seeing the Lion King show.
Thank you Sean and Zari for a wonderful time running around D.C. … and not kidding about the running around part. 😉 Haha! Cannot WAIT for your wedding day next May!!! Hopefully then I’ll hear Sean’s rapping! Enjoy some of my favorites!! xoxo
Beautiful smile, Zari!
This dress … the shoes … gah!
You two are adorable!
We ran into the Jefferson Hotel for some indoor shots. 🙂 Gorgeous space!
And then into the wine cellar for a few shots!
GORGEOUS ring!!!
Loving the coloring!
Cute!!!
Gorgeous!
LOVE this shot!
Love the shot on the right!!!
Beautiful!
VENUES
Hay Adams Hotel
The Jefferson Hotel
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
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