I’m Stephanie, a wedding + lifestyle photographer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Warrenton, Virginia. Whether I’m by the mountains of Colorado or Virginia, my soul feels at home, surrounded by rural living and the raw beauty of nature. I genuinely love what I do, and feel so passionate to share the enthusiasm and joy of these celebrations with you!

DOCUMENTING LOVE'S UNSCRIPTED CHAPTERS FROM COUPLES & FAMILIES IN COLORADO + VIRGINIA

@stephaniemessickphoto

find inspiration

Gallery images

April 12, 2016

JR & Stephanie | Wildflower Field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement Photographer

JR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement Photographer

Originally JR, Stephanie and I planned to meet towards the end of this month for some flower portraits. Well as you all know, spring came early this year! It was a little tricky because they don’t just live down the street and with work during the weekdays, we only had one day later this month that could work. Of course we were just concerned about the weather working in our favor for the day we booked … Didn’t even think that the flowers would come up WEEKS early! Just as a comparison, I took photos in these fields last year the first week of MAY! Crazy!!! Fortunately, we were able to work some magic and make Friday evening work while these flowers were in peak bloom!

We met months ago on a warm winter day at their wedding venue, The Winery at Bull Run. It was a blast getting to know them then but this was even more of a treat running around playing in a field of flowers! I cherish that time so much before the wedding day so I’m forever thankful they made the hike out to the farm side of the DC metro area to make this session happen. <3 We had the best time, although, it was SO cold!!!! Funny how it worked out because when talking about rescheduling, we saw a chance for snow Saturday morning. I thought how unique and different it would be to photograph in a field of flowers while it was snowing?! However, we didn’t want to take the chance of the snow to be rain. I’m SO glad we didn’t take that chance because it ended up being a mix here which would have been nasty! Haha!

While photographing JR and Stephanie, it was so sweet to see their personalities in front of the camera. I bet you can tell they are just as sweet as can be in these photos. They are exactly that and more! Together they genuine, radiant, SO thoughtful (JR was so concerned for Stephanie running around in the cold weather), loving and considerate. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment with them and cannot WAIT for their July wedding!!! 🙂

JR & STEPHANIE’S LOVE STORY

How we met

JR and Stephanie actually met on Match.com, so I guess you could say they are one of their “success stories” 🙂

They were both working long hours at the time so online dating seemed to be the way to go; and they couldn’t be any happier! JR and Stephanie talked for a couple weeks before deciding to meet up for their first date. During one of their late night talks prior to meeting, Stephanie mentioned that one of her pet peeves is when people are late; so JR showed up to the restaurant for their dinner date thirty minutes early! It was then that she knew he was a keeper! They couldn’t believe they had finally found someone who they clicked with on so many different levels. After dinner they walked around the promenade, talking and just getting to know each other better. By the end of the night, they both knew that this was the start of something special!

The Proposal

What started out as a typical date night ended up being a day that JR and Stephanie will never forget.

On November 6, 2015, they went out to dinner, then on the way home JR suggested that they put up their Christmas trees. They got to Stephanie’s apartment and decided they needed some Christmas music, so JR played some on his phone. After all the ornaments were on the tree, JR mentioned that he got an ornament for their first Christmas together. He sneakily turned off the Christmas music and somehow managed to press record on his phone without Stephanie noticing. JR gave Stephanie the box with the ornament and had tied her ring to the ornament so when she pulled the ornament out of the box she saw the ring. At that point Stephanie was completely in shock and beyond surprised! JR got down on one knee and said some very sweet words that she will never forget. On top of pulling off the surprise, JR managed to get the whole proposal on video!

THANK YOU JR and Stephanie for rearranging plans to make this work! SO worth it!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Enjoy some of my favorites!!! xoxo!

JR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement PhotographerJR & Stephanie | A wildflower field in Warrenton, Virginia Engagement Photographerjr_stephanie_warrenton_virginia_wildflower_field_farm_country_engagement_photographer-61_web

CONGRATS on your engagement!!! Cannot WAIT for your special day this summer! XOXO!

  1. Kristen says:

    Pictures are absolutely stunning! You two are PERFECT!

  2. Jeanna says:

    Such happiness in each shot! Beautiful!

  3. […] files and information all in one spot! I also love that I can customize their workspace with their engagement portraits. […]

  4. […] wasn’t that long ago when JR, Steph and I met at my parent’s farm for their engagement portraits to frolic in wildflowers. 🙂 We hit it off from our initial meeting together as we drank wine with […]