Gosh I love engagement season. Every time I pick up the camera in front of two people in love I get ALL THE FEELS and Sara and Brian’s Princeton University Engagement Session was no different.  Brian was a groomsmen in a wedding I did a few years ago, and is part of the group of friends where I’ve done 6 weddings (maybe even more) now! I was friends with Brian on Facebook after shooting that wedding and remember seeing their engagement announcement on Facebook pop up on my feed.  I commented congratulations to him and Sara on it, and lo and behold about a day later, I received a call from an unknown number and it was Sara. I was walking out of the cafe in town and Sara said something like “Hi Laura! You were the photographer at a friends wedding I attended and me and my fiancé are getting married July 14 this year.  I know it’s a long shot but if you’re available I’d love to have you be the photographer! You can just send over the contract!” Make that the best trip to the cafe I’ve ever had.

 

At that time, I didn’t even ask who her fiance was – it all happened so fast! But when I went to send over the contract, I asked for her fiance’s name and email and found out it was Brian! It alllll clicked and I was overjoyed that they were the “friends at the wedding” I did years ago. (Up til that point, I hadn’t put the last name together of who it was!)

 

I told Aimee, my past bride, that I was doing Sara and Brian’s wedding and she said “Well, they’re basically two of my favorite people in the world, so that’s amazing. You’re going to love them.” And she was so right.

 

We met down at Princeton University for their engagement session and they looked great! We lucked out with a 2 hour window of no rain, and roamed the campus for their session.  I had never been there, and was so excited to say “I went to Princeton.” 😉 We had so much fun, and now I want to share a bit of their story!

 

Sara and Brian met in the classroom.  They were both teachers at a small school in West Jersey and met while working in the same classroom. Sara said she was swooned by Brian’s boyish good looks and magnetic charm! (But that also could be Brian sayin’ that. 😉 ) After realizing it was much more of a co-working relationship, they tried to secretly start dating (their kids quickly caught on and used to poke fun at them and ask why they were always driving into school together!)  After growing close together in the classroom, they decided it was time for their first date.

 

They had their first date at the beautiful Warwick Valley Winery! Brian wined and dined Sara, her wino heart was sold!  Their perfect date night is a quiet dinner at a nice restaurant with a nice bottle of wine (with Brian paying the bill, lol!) They love spending their nights after work outside in their backyard or on the deck with their lovable dog! They are the perfect compliments for each other. Foodies who just love a simple day or night spending time with one another.

 

As Brian puts it, as a couple, they are outdoorsy in the sense that we like to drink on the patio. Athletic in the sense that Sara wears a ton of active wear. Cultured in the sense that Brian brags about living in Princeton and subscribing to ”The New Yorker”  We are winos. Love wineries. Love tastings. Love pairings. Just give us wine.

 

Needless to say, their first date being at a winery was the perfect place to kick off their relationship.  This turned into tradition when they started saving all their wine corks at the beginning of their relationship.  They would write the date they enjoyed the wine and a few details from the outing on them. They had always planned to go through the corks one day when their jar got to the top.  Brian started panicking a few months out that they jar was still SO FAR from the top, and he knew the proposal was coming up. He started buying two buck chuck from Trader Joe’s and drinking wine nearly every day so he could add the corks to the jar.  Sara was so confused why he was all of a sudden drinking so much, but before she could say anything, they day finally arrived that the jar was full.

 

On that day, they sampled cheese and shared a bottle of Merlot while they went through all of their corks and reminisced on all their amazing memories together. Mid cork reading, Brian snuck a new cork into the pile that had the date and “Brian proposes… Sara says…” written on it. As she read it, Brian got down on a knee. How smooth is that?! Total rock star that guy!

 

I think it’s safe to say that cork will be the favorite in the jar from now on, and they’ll likely be adding a few more that have July 14, 2018 on them too.  I can’t wait for their wedding day at Farmstead Golf and Country Club to cheers to their amazing relationship and the next chapter to come.

 

Sara and Brian, thank you so much for spending the evening with me, letting me crash your love sesh around Princeton University.  I loved getting to know you both more and having dinner and drinks with you after! I can’t wait to see you in just two months, and know it’s going to be an incredible celebration for two incredible people.