Anthony’s sister, Sami, joined us on the day of Anthony and Elizabeth’s engagement session – she helped entertain Piper, Anthony and Elizabeth’s dog, whenever I was photographing just the two of them. As we were in the middle of their session, Sami joked that she still didn’t know how she was going to come up with the one thousand dollars she owes Anthony, based on a bet they made years ago. I asked what the bet was, and Sami explained, matter-of-factly: Anthony was in college at Northern Illinois University, and he told his sister about this girl he had met, Elizabeth – more specifically, he told Sami that he thought she was “the one”. Sami laughed and bet him a thousand bucks in that moment that it wouldn’t happen. He proved her wrong.
Anthony and Elizabeth then pitched in different additions to their story of first meeting in the dorm hall at NIU – their connection wasn’t immediate, and Elizabeth shrugged as she explained that she actually didn’t like Anthony upon first meeting him. When he first asked her to go to lunch that fall, she responded, “I don’t like lunch.” (Which is a line that will now forever crack me up.) It wasn’t until the spring semester that Elizabeth started to really like this boy she had met, and from that moment on, they have continued to figure out their way by one another’s side.
Elizabeth and Anthony’s engagement session felt extra special to me because it was never expected to happen originally. When they decided to book me as their photographer for their wedding next year, they chose to forego adding the engagement session to their package, and instead were planning to have someone else shoot engagement photos for them. When things fell through with their original engagement session, Elizabeth got in touch with me to see if I had a last minute spot available – and, quite perfectly, the date she mentioned was one of the few fall dates I had remaining. So I got this chance to spend the afternoon getting to know them and their pup, hearing these stories of how they met and fell in love, and learning about who they have each become as they’ve grown up together – which otherwise would never have occurred.
