Talk about a blast from the past … When Natalie reached out to me via email, I was SO excited to see her name, and then started thinking about the old days when we were kids. Natalie and I attended St. John’s private school, where we had the “privilege” of looking the same wearing a uniform every day. Unless it was “dress down day” (aka, our favorite day of the week! But I swear that fashion wasn’t really a thing back in the elementary school days… I would hate to uncover those photos. HA!). Fast forward to now … We have jobs. We are in our 30s (AH). *For some reason, that still doesn’t feel right saying that. Haha! And we found our soulmates! It’s so weird to see how life takes its course over a long period of time. 🙂

Natalie, Gus, and Natalie’s parents met with me near Warrenton, Virginia to take engagement portraits last month on a Christmas tree farm! SO fun! It was quite a chilly day, but I felt good knowing that their wedding day won’t be the same, considering it will April. 🙂 Gus and Natalie also brought their pride and joy, Flip the pup!!! Of course, he came dressed to impress with his well-groomed haircut and props. Haha! So cute! He was mesmerized by the camera, which I used his attention to my advantage as you’ll see below. 🙂

Gus & Natalie’s Love Story

HOW GUS & NATALIE MET

Natalie says that Gus is her person. 🙂 They met six years ago on Plenty of Fish when they decided to finally meet in person for a cup of coffee in Tysons. It turned out a cup of coffee turned into FOUR hours of talking! Their first date happened during pivotal times in their lives, while Natalie was transitioning a huge career change, and Gus had just celebrated two years of being sober. They were exactly what each other needed at that time and found that it brought them even closer together to create the bond they have today. <3

HOW GUS PROPOSED TO NATALIE

Gus came home early from work to prepare an incredible and special dinner for Natalie. Not to mention, impressive. He made steak topped with crab meat and bechamel sauce (doesn’t that sound delectable?!), which set some alarms for Natalie because she is typically the chef of the house. Haha! But she didn’t want to overthink it because she had just gotten botox done for the first time, so she thought he wouldn’t do it while her face was bleeding. Fortunately, he slipped the ring back into a drawer and waited for the right time. The following week, he decided to try again. This time, he took her out to a new restaurant that ended up being the worst food they had ever experienced! Fortunately, it brought humor to their evening and ended up laughing about it all night long how it was their luck! They ended up going home to relax with their fur baby, Flip, when Gus figured that it’s not necessarily about the stage, but about the question if she will marry him. 🙂 As Gus leaned into Natalie to tell her how much she meant to him, Flip got excited and started attacking Natalie with kisses! Gus then said, “Before Flip ruins the surprise…” He then got down on one knee in their living room at the first house they bought together to ask for her hand in marriage. Natalie was SO excited that she tackled him before he even had the chance to pull out the box! HAHA! After crying and kissing, he showed her the most perfect ring she had ever dreamt of wearing on her left hand. It turned out that Gus spent five months customizing the perfect ring for her. 🙂 Of course, she said, “YES!!” and they are now preparing to say YES to forever this spring!!

Thank you, Gus and Natalie, for having me document this special time for you two. I cannot believeeeee we are just a few short months away from celebrating the BIG day! 🙂 Enjoy every minute of this engagement until the time you can call each other, hubby and wifey! 🙂 CONGRATS!!!

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