When mountains, a super sweet couple and one gorgeous sunset, all wrapped into one session, you know this will be a great time! It’s funny; we left our homes in different parts of VA with 70-degree weather. Well, by the time we drove 1.5/2 hours to Skyline Drive, it must have been in the lower 40s and WIND like no one’s business! Took us by surprise, so I’m glad Jessica brought a big scarf with her to keep her nice and cozy during these photos. 🙂
I immediately fell in love with Joel and Jessica as soon as Jessica told me their love story. They are the cutest!! Jessica and I met over Skype for our initial meeting since she was in the midst of moving. I was in awe of her on-the-move schedule. Joel is just like that for work, as he travels all over the world! As we drove around from location to location during their engagement session, we got to talking about world travels. So much fun hearing/sharing travel experiences and talking about adventure dreams! I could easily go on a hike with Joel and Jessica and have the best time! They are adventurous, genuine, sincere, fun, bubbly and humble. You’ll notice these traits when you read through their love story and check out their photos. So excited and honored to be their wedding photographer!!! <3
Joel & Jessica’s Love Story
How Joel and Jessica Met
from Jessica’s point of view
It was the beginning of Spring semester, junior year at Virginia Tech, when I walked into Analytical Chemistry Lab 15 minutes early; I immediately noticed an extremely handsome man already at a lab station with his notebook out… talk about an over-zealous student! Knowing that I could pick my lab partner and seeing he was still in need of one, I opted out of picking him and decided to set up at the next station over. My reasoning: I did not want to get stuck with someone “too cool for school” and end up doing all the work. YES, I judged him initially, but boy was I extremely wrong!
I later learned we were in the same major, Biochemistry, and that he had recently returned from his second tour in Iraq, which lasted over a year. Throughout the semester, we exchanged witty comments and competed against each other to see who had the best titrations – little did he know that blowing CO2 into the flasks changed any overly titrated solution into a near-colorless one (I will not bore y’all with the chemistry behind that!). By that time, I had a crush on this handsome, brave AND smart/nerdy man. Spring and summer passed, but Fall 2012 proved to be the beginning of our forever when Joel and I went on our first date; a date I will never forget nor he, because every now and then I will remind him of all the games of pool he had lost that night – a fact he fails to accept to this day!
How Joel Proposed to Jessica
from Joel’s perspective
July 29, 2016 ~ the day I asked the most selfless, smart, passionate and beautiful woman to be my wife….
It had been almost a year since I purchased her ring in Minnesota from the same jeweler her dad used 33 years prior to buy her mom’s engagement ring. I wanted the moment to be unforgettable, so I waited until our trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to hike/camp Grand Teton National Park – a priority on our “Bucket List.” During that year, Jess fell in love with a little chapel she had found on Instagram in Jackson Hole with the Grand Tetons as the backdrop. Soon she had an elopement plan, mind you, she did not have a ring at this point; whereas I now had the best place to ask the love of my life to spend forever with me….
It was sunrise in front of that little chapel. We were both wrapped in a sleeping bag and drinking coffee while we watched the sun hit the top of the Grand Tetons. Jess got up to take a picture, while I got on one knee just behind her before she turned back around. All I have to say is, I must have said something right because she said “YES!” At that exact moment, I was the luckiest man alive! The rest of that memorable day included a short hike (short, because we did not have bear spray which caused Jess to jump at every sound in the woods), a tram-ride up the mountain for dinner to watch the sunset, and a hotel room showered in rose petals with a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. That amazing day was only the beginning of a week-long adventure, but most importantly, it was the day Jess said “yes” to an adventure through life with me.
Thank you, Joel and Jessica, for making the travel to Sky Line Drive for your engagement portraits! I had the BEST time with you two and cannot waittttttt for your wedding day next year! It’s going to be the sweetest day ever! <3 Congrats and enjoy some of my MANY favorites from our time together! XOXO!
CONGRATS!!!!
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