It’s funny how people are brought into our lives. I met Rachel through McKinsey Development where they have an amazing group of talented young professionals. Rachel is a burst of sunshine and I always looked forward to seeing her along with her coworkers when I walked into the McKinsey Development office. When I received an email from Rachel regarding her engagement session, I was not only thrilled but honored. Zack and Rachel asked if I would be willing to come up to Pennsylvania for their photos because Bethany College holds a special place in their hearts. After all, that is where they met. 🙂 Of course I was going to make this happen on my calendar and let me say that we could not have been more thankful the rain just passed us! When I arrived at their cute apartment, we drove on some serious backroads to get there where I had the chance to see the beauty of Pennsylvania farm land … Well, maybe the oil rigs aren’t so pretty, but everything else is … Oh and maybe that creepy haunted house that Zack and Rachel pointed out to me … But really, the backroads were a pleasant drive. 😉 Once we arrived, I had the grand tour of the college. I was excited when spotting little random places to take photos. We even saw signs of fall with the leaves falling to the ground which immediately sparked a Pumpkin Spiced Latte craving. 😉 I had the best time running around Bethany College with Zack and Rachel! It is so obvious how happy they are together and it brought joy to me when photographing them! Rachel is a bridesmaid at an upcoming wedding (Yay Tyler and Jess!!!) I’m photographing in a couple weeks and I cannot wait to see them again soon!
Zack & Rachel’s Love Story
How they met from Rachel’s perspective…
It was five years ago, we were 19 and it was the first weekend of our sophomore year at Bethany College. A few of my sorority sisters were heading over to Zack’s fraternity house and they convinced me to join them. Mr. Jones by Counting Crows came on and I walked right up to him and asked him to dance with me, I was so nervous! (That part of the story varies depending on who you ask, Zack insists he asked me to dance!) In true Zack fashion, he twirled me and held me close. I remember telling my roommate the next week how cute I thought he was and how much I had already fallen for this boy I had just met! Over the next six months he became my best friend. A week before my birthday he (finally!) asked me to be his girlfriend. I said yes…and the rest is history.
How he proposed from Zack’s perspective…
I believe stress is something that inherently comes with planing any form of surprise, little did I know how stressful it would actually be. With a proposal everything needs to be perfect, especially the timing.
Let’s just say setting up anything involving timing and planing with Rachel is not as easy as one would think..so after two failed proposal attempts (which is a completely separate story in itself) , I was bound to find one that was fail proof.
The only thing that I knew for certain was Rachel had to come home from work. I took a personal day off of work and started preparing for the big moment. First I printed around 15 photos that are special to me and Rachel,spanning back to our first photo ever taken together in 2010, to our most recent. The house was decorated with flowers and balloons, and instructions were left on the door. The photos were posted up on the hallway of her home leading into the dinning room. Under each photo was a rose and a hand written note, either about the significance of the photo or just something special between us. The photos represented our past and present, and I was waiting at the end with champagne, and a ring hoping to become her future. Simple, yet meaningful, and the moment was perfect.
Thank you Zack and Rachel for taking me to such a special place to you both. It was SO much fun running around and touring your beautiful campus! Wishing you both the best during this exciting time of your lives and I look forward to seeing you very soon!!! 🙂 xoxo!
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