The second engagement session I shot last weekend was also for another one of my close friends. Tiana is a member of my household, Daughters of Zion, and we shared many of the same classes as theology majors together at Franciscan University. AJ was also in many of those same theology classes as us and he was one of those people that Tiana (and I) knew by name but that was about it. However, senior year rolled around and AJ started noticing Tiana a lot more and seeking out small interactions with her. He finally decided to ask her out around Easter last year and (a very nervous) Tiana accepted. A month followed of a few follow-up dates and a lot of confusion on both sides. Tiana lived in one of the student apartments close to mine and she would come over often in that month to talk about AJ. To those of us she came and talked to it was quite apparent that she liked this man a lot, but she still wasn’t sure. And yet AJ persisted and finally the night before graduation Tiana came over to his RA office and admitted she liked him quite a bit. The next day they began to officially date.

Fast forward to this past January when Tiana and AJ flew out to Las Vegas to visit her family. While they were out there, AJ planned to propose at Zion National Park. Not only was it a gorgeous location, but the name Zion holds a special meaning to Tiana due to our household name “Daughters of Zion”. However, Tiana wasn’t feeling very well on the trip and AJ had to boldface lie to her multiple times leading up to the proposal, swearing he was not going to propose on this trip. But yet again, he was persistent and yet again his gentle and patient persistence paid off and they had the most beautiful and perfectly “them” proposal at one of the gorgeous overlooks in Zion National Park. (Their proposal video is one of my favorite things ever and I’ve rewatched it multiple times because it is the most perfect “Tiana” reaction ever).

Unfortunately, I already had a wedding booked on their wedding date which makes all of us quite sad. But since I won’t be able to be at their wedding next year, I was all the more determined to give them beautiful engagement photos and I love how they turned out! We drove up to Tomlinson Run State Park in WV, about 30 min north of Franciscan University (and another one of the *many* places that I never made it to while a student at FUS and I sincerely don’t know why because it’s a gorgeous park). It was so great for me to get see Tiana and AJ as an engaged couple since I hadn’t seen them together since the month before gradation when they still weren’t even dating yet. They really are so perfect for each other and so in love and it’s amazing to see how God has brought them together. We were laughing throughout their entire session and I’m so grateful we were able to make this happen!

Xoxo,
Mary Kate