I first met Lauren and Marly on Lauren’s dad’s farm – we’d talked back and forth via email beforehand, but our first time “in person” was out in her father’s driveway on this fall afternoon. They had been in the midst of some of the busier times I would guess they’ve had as a couple – Lauren had just started a new job, they were in the process of moving out of the home Marly had previously owned, and were also planning a move into the new home they had purchased together. In fact, they had spent the entire Saturday before our Sunday session packing their entire house up to load onto a trailer, and then spent their one other day off the weekend before the big move with me. I imagined the stress of having this whirlwind of life events happening all at once while also trying to plan for an engagement session, and envisioned the way this could overwhelm some – but when it came to these two, my envisioning couldn’t have been further from reality.
We wandered around Lauren’s Dad’s farm together for the first half of the session, amongst the trees and the barns and fences as Lauren told me about the horses they’d had and the time she’d spent out here with her siblings. It’s no secret that I love sessions in places that mean something to the people being photographed – in this case, I just think there’s something so special about being in a place that will forever hold importance to you, and then making a new memory in that place with the person you’ll be with forever. Lauren and Marly were chill and comfortable in each other’s arms, and the session moved along so smoothly and calmly despite the late October chill in the air.
Our second location was her grandparents’ farm, which was only a few miles down the road. We spent the remainder of sunset there as they told me about their wedding plans, and as they described a backyard affair full of their people just hanging out in the place that feels most like home to them, I realized I couldn’t have envisioned a wedding day approach more perfect for these two. We ended their session in the moonlight; it felt calm and still and like home in the way the country often does, as well as the way love does when it’s at it’s best, just like this.
