I’m so excited to tell you all about Danielle and Jimmy’s engagement session because what a fun few days this was!! Danielle and Jimmy are so so kind and absolutely adorable. I traveled to their home in Virginia for their fall engagement session and we went to a bunch of amazing locations! We spent the entire day doing their session from morning until golden hour and it was such a great day.
I arrived at their house in Virginia the night before the session and they were such kind hosts! They built their house this year and holy cow it is beautifulllll. That night, we ate pizza and watched the Yankee game anticipating how great the next day would be!! The next morning we left for their session around 10 am and had a bunch of places on our agenda to shoot at, including three vineyards and downtown Lessburg!
The first location we stopped at was at Stone Tower. Here, we got to explore a lot of the grounds which were absolutely beautiful! We were able to explore all around outside as well as inside. We were even able to go into the cellars to take in the breathtaking mountain views! This location was so so cool. There were so many amazing spots here and some awesome old doors from when the winery was built!
Our next stop was downtown Leesburg. We grabbed lunch first at a delicious tex mex place and walked all over town! The downtown was such a pretty area and perfect to walk around. While we were exploring, we took a few pictures in front of Jimmy’s mom’s work. He grew up playing on the lawn outside there so it was a special place for him and I’m so happy we could take some there!
Our next location to take pictures at that day was Bluemont Vineyard. This hilly vineyard was so beautiful!! There were perfect spot for a few photos in the vines which I loved! There was a wedding going on at the vineyard that day, so we only made a quick pit stop there. The upper vineyard was brutal for walking and the wedding was happening in the lower vineyard so we decided to head to our last location for the day.
We ended the session at Chrysalis Vineyards at The Ag District at golden hour! This was the perfect end to a great day!! The sun was golden and glowing, and there was barely anyone at the vineyard by the time we got there. Having a vineyard to ourselves for a session is definitely goals, having the views to ourselves was amazing!
Right after our last stop at Chrysalis Vineyards I headed straight home to get above Washington DC before morning rush hour. Danielle and Jimmy are SUCH a cute couple! They’re getting married here in New Jersey at The Mansion at Mountain Lakes NJ and I simply cannot wait!
Now, to get into the good stuff…Danielle and Jimmy’s love story!!
Danielle and Jimmy ended up meeting on a July 4th cruise back in 2016. Jimmy was there with his whole family to celebrate his Grandma’s birthday, and Danielle was there for a girls trip with her best friend and her mom. Daniella met Jimmy’s cousin the first night of the cruise, and Jimmy the next and they immediately hit it off! They were inseparable from that point on and even stayed up all night the last day of the cruise to watch the ship to pull into the harbor at sunrise! They exchanged numbers and have been together since.
These two love outdoor activities from hiking to kayaking! They love going out and enjoying life together. Danielle and Jimmy also love hitting up breweries and doing tastings before enjoying meals with friends! Traveling, visiting breweries and sightseeing are definitely their favorite activities to do as a couple!
Danielle and Jimmy’s proposal story is so simple and cute! They had plans to go out to dinner as a Christmas gift to each other, but that morning they spontaneously decided to buy tickets for the Giants vs. Cowboys season finale game. Danielle suggest they cancel their dinner plans to go to the game and Jimmy scrambled to change his proposal plans!! Once they were parked at the stadium, they were having a quick breakfast in the car before meeting with their friends. Jimmy started talking about how much Danielle meant to him before pulling the engagement ring out of his hat! Danielle was completely shocked and even said “I’m confused” as Jimmy held the ring in front of her haha! Finally after realizing what was happening she said YES and could not stop smiling!!
Danielle and Jimmy truly are the perfect pair. They are both so caring, willing to try new things with each other, and are both such genuine people! I cannot wait to celebrate their love with their friends and family next year. I’m SO looking forward to all the dancing that’ll ensue throughout the night!!
[…] Then, that’s where I came in! Referred to me by one of my past Groom’s mothers (Thanks Bobby!), Danielle and James booked me for their 2020 wedding day. COVID-19 clearly had other plans. Luckily, we got to photograph their epic engagement session down in Virginia in 2019, and I had the pleasure of staying at their home for the night! (Thanks guys!) Psssst – check out their gorgeous engagement session here: https://imlauraleeblog.com/virginia-engagement-session-nj-photographer/ […]