I am really excited to introduce a very sweet couple…I have so enjoyed getting to know Megan and Ben!!! AND…their amazing dog, Winston! Winston is so adorable that he has his own instagram.  Seriously though have you ever seen such a sweet dog?!  He is so friendly and such a trooper!  Megan and Ben’s first engagement session was in the type of cold rain that’s so cold, you have to wonder why it isn’t coming down as ice!  But these three and their friend, Nancy (who was a true friend and helped me with an umbrella too!) were rock stars. And the result..some pretty epic rainy Alexandria shots!

 

Megan and Ben are tying the knot at Walden Hall next year so we also scheduled a mini session at Walden Hall a week later before their walk through of the venue.  It turned out to be pretty windy, but it was beautiful and full of sunshine.  I am so excited about their wedding next year at one of my favorite venues.  I just love the way they have engagement photos near where they live as well as at their wedding venue. 

And I love Megan’s wit and charm and how she and Ben interact together, so comfortably and with such chemistry.  Ben is such a gentleman and they are both animal lovers too!  Reading Megan’s summary of their love story gives you such a wonderful insight into their lives together and I saw all of this reflected during our time together.

I am so thrilled to be a part of their new journey together and their big day!  Thank you Megan and Ben for trusting me with it and thank you Winston for being the best trooper in the rain and the wind!  You deserve every treat!

So now don’t you want to read their love story?!

In Megan’s words:

“I first became aware of Ben during my third year of law school when my roommate and I were reading applications for first year law students to be law clerks for the legal assistance program for which I was the director. My roommate thought Ben had a great application and I proceeded to see his photo on our school’s online directory. It was an awful picture with terrible lighting; I was not impressed. I first met Ben in person when he interviewed for the law clerk position. He gave a solid interview, but it was somewhat bizarre that his fun fact was that he was “pretty good at scattegories.” Who says that, and what does “pretty good” even mean? Ben was among those selected to be law clerks and the program hosted a party to celebrate the new clerks. By some divine intervention, I was killing it playing flip cup at the party, which caught Ben’s eye. We started some banter and during our conversation, Ben called me Ursula. To be fair, there was a girl at the party who’s name was Ursula, but I could not believe that he did not know my name, especially when I interviewed him for the job! Anyways, I did not let him down, and still don’t, for that and made sure everyone else at the party knew his blunder. Since that party, Ben and I have always clicked and get along so easily. Our first true test was that following summer, when I decided to follow Ben to Indianapolis where he had his summer internship while I studied for the bar exam. I think we both knew then that we were a perfect match for each other because we could survive one of us studying for the bar while living in a studio apartment. Fast forward two more years in New Orleans and one summer long distance, Ben and I now live happily in Virginia with our amazing dog, Winston.”

“My parents were supposed to visit us the weekend after my birthday, until my dad called to say he had to fill in for someone who supposedly recovering from surgery. Ben suggested that we go to his family’s beach house in Rehoboth Beach, DE for the weekend instead. Early that Saturday morning, we took Winston for a walk on the beach, as we have done previously. Winston absolutely loves going to the beach and we had such a great time watching him run around off-leash. As we were on our way back, I noticed a guy with a nice, professional-looking camera. I told Ben that we better put Winston’s leash on, because I feared that he would run and jump up on the guy. Winston did exactly that. As I ran over to try to get Winston, the guy said he had been taking photos of people with their dogs and asked if he could take a few of us with Winston. I really did not think anything of this, because Winston is the most handsome dog ever and people frequently stop us to talk about him or to take his photo. I only started to feel uncomfortable and suspicious when the photographer asked us to hold hands and look at each other. I kept asking Ben what was going on and if we were done. Then, Ben says that he thinks “it’s a good time to…” and he goes into his drawstring bag to get out a box. He gets down on one knee and proposes. I was so happy/excited/crying that I pretty much blacked out to what he was saying, but I at least recall saying “yes.” We took a couple more photos and then started the drive back to the house. As we were driving, Ben insisted that I call my parents, I did not want to because I wanted to Facetime with them back at the house, but I agreed to call them as he dropped Winston off to be groomed. We finally made it back to the house, and after walking in, my parents, his mom and sister popped out of the kitchen. Crying again as I say hello, I ask if there are any more surprises. Little did I know that everyone knew the whole time, and my dad lied about someone getting surgery. We then celebrated with our families the rest of the day.”

To view more Northern Virginia weddings and engagement sessions, peruse HERE.