We had Emily & Mike’s University of Virginia engagement session planned on campus WEEKS before the basketball playoffs, so there is no way we could have known that the evening of our session would be when they were playing for the championship title! Luckily the game was played at an offsite location and we were shooting at sunrise, but you could feel the excitement brewing on the Lawn and as we began to wrap up, hoards of students were filling the common areas in their UVA gear!  Just days before, these two were watching their home team defeat Auburn in the Final Four, so to say they were looking forward to the game was an understatement. I totally get the sentiment; just a few years ago my college team (JMU!) was in the football championships and it’s a crazy feeling!

While the college years may be behind us, there is something so special about that time in your life… especially when it led you to the person you plan to spend the rest of your life with like for Emily and Mike. This sweet couple met almost five years ago while hiking with friends on the Blue Ridge trails. They were both UVA students at the time and while Mike was a year ahead of her, they maintained their relationship long distance after graduation while he was working in Charlotte, NC. And then, just as Emily went through one of life’s hardest challenges, no more than two weeks later, Mike got an offer to move back to DC for work. Fate is a funny thing. I don’t know if I’m a believer, but stories like these are what make it hard not to.

I’m so excited to capture the next step of their love story as they marry next February at the National Museum of Women in the Arts! Even though it won’t end with a UVA basketball championship like their engagement session, I think the old “husband and wife” thing might be even better  =P