Boston Summer Engagement Session with Nneka + Austin at Parish Cafe and Public Gardens, June 15, 2014

I had the great pleasure of being invited up to Boston, MA to capture engagement photos for Nneka and Austin.  (You may recognize them from their mini portrait session we did at the Phoenixville Foundry. – Blog Post Here) We had discussed locations for their shoot  in the Phoenixville area since that is where her family lives, but the more I heard about their story of how they met and got engaged in Boston the more it made sense the session needed to happen there.

Here is the story of their engagement:  Nneka and Austin planned a date night in Boston.  Austin insisted upon a Saturday night as opposed to Nneka’s request for a Sunday afternoon.  Naturally they headed back to the Parish Cafe, the place where they had their first date to enjoy a nice dinner outside before heading down to Boston Public Gardens.  According to Nneka she had a feeling Austin might propose that night since he had said he would do it before her birthday which was a month later.  However, she had no clear signs it would be happening that day.  On their walk down to the gardens Austin kept stalling their arrival and she was getting suspicious of what was going on, especially since Austin kept checking his phone.  They got to the frog pond and he asked her to take a picture of the swan boats.  She didn’t really understand why and then it hit her that maybe there will be a big marry me sign on the side of the boat.  So she takes the pic but there wasn’t any sign.  A little confused, she then heard the infamous line “there’s something I need to ask you,” from Austin.   She turns around to see him down on one knee, and is overcome by emotions.  He again tells her “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.  Will you marry me?”  She was still crying but managed to get out an “of course.”  There was a huge crew of people up on the bridge who stopped to watch the proposal.  After Austin places the ring on her finger he explains that among all those people on the bridge that her whole family was there watching from afar.  Lots of hugs, laughter and cries of happiness ensued before they all headed out to celebrate.

I thought it was touching that Austin included both their families to make an awesome moment even more special.

Nneka, Austin and I met at the Wooden Spoon in Phoenixville, PA to talk about their big day and discuss possibilities of where their engagement session would take place.  We decided, although it would be a big drive for me, Boston is where it needed to happen.  As it turned out everything worked out pretty well since we were able to stay with friends we had meant to visit that live just outside of Boston.

We started the session at the Parish Cafe on Boylston Street on the outside patio and took a nice walk back to the Boston Public Gardens where there was an infinite amount of possibilities for getting great images.   So I have a thing for weeping willow trees.  Maybe because every time I see one I am immediately taken back to my days as a kid running around my grandparents house.  They had a couple weeping willows in their yard and as a kid I pretended to be like Tarzan grabbing and swinging on the vines.  My brother and I spent a lot of Sunday’s at grandma and paps playing ball in their big yard, walking back to the creek to catch crayfish and minnows, playing pool in their basement, sneaking Oreo cookies and Dr. Peppers out of their mini fridge before walking down the road to go fishing off the bridge.  Entering into the gardens my eyes drew towards the weeping willows and knew they would be part of the session.  As it turns out one of my all time favorite images I have ever taken was captured in these willow trees (top image).  I also wanted to note that Nneka’s cool dress made for excellent images due to the color standing out well with their surroundings.  Austin’s attire was also very dashing.  🙂

Here are my favorites moments from our adventures in the Boston.

Thank you to Nneka and Austin for an awesome photo shoot.  They were excellent to work with as they needed little if any direction.  As a result the expressions and emotions are natural and real without being staged.  Thank you to the both of them as well for being so sweet giving me a ride back to my parking garage and even more so for their thoughtful Boston themed gifts for my Graeme and baby Zoey.

Here’s a shot of my little 4 month old, Zoey, with her Boston Hello Kitty from Nneka and Austin.

Thank you to my readers for taking a look at my latest work.  Heads up to keep a look out for Nneka and Austin’s wedding post.  They get married the end of this month at the Holy Trinity Church and celebrate at the Phoenixville Foundry in Phoenixville, PA.

All the best,

DV

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~ by DanielleVennard on August 20, 2014.