I am really excited to share Anna and Michael’s DC engagement session! When I first chatted with them, it was over facetime while they were in the car in New England. Anna is a travel nurse, so they are planning their wedding day from afar. I knew right away, that they were such a great fit. They were also going to be in town at the end of February, so we planned to do their engagement session while they were in the area and itt worked out perfectly.

Due to my continued recovery from hand surgery, Anna and Michael were more than generous in meeting me in Fairfax and driving me into DC with them. First, we met up with Anna’s mom Carol at the site of what will be their ceremony location in August. The Notre Dame Chapel is a gorgeous architectural wonder. I’m including below a few cell phone pics from the nave of this neo-Byzantine chapel at Trinity Washington College. The extremely fine and detailed mosaic work on the ceiling was designed by Bancel La Farge and assembled at the Ravenna mosaic factory in Munich. The exquisite stained glass is the work of Connick of Boston. This remarkable chapel will serve as the ceremony site for Anna and Michael’s wedding day.

After touring the site (and taking a few pics outside), we said goodbye to Anna’s mother and drove to the Lincoln Memorial for a cloudy but lovely evening. But then just before we ended our session, a golden sun came out from behind the clouds and the timing couldn’t have been better! The Lincoln Memorial is also the site of Michael’s proposal to Anna last year! These high school sweethearts were such a joy to serve. The whole evening with these two was wonderful and I can’t wait for their August wedding at the Notre Dame chapel and at Morais Vineyards.

This is what Anna had to say about their relationship and their marriage to come:

“I’ve had a best friend since I was 15. And now we’re getting married! I was the quiet, awkward studious girl in high school and Michael was the jock with quiet confidence and a heart of gold. From the start we knew we loved each other and wanted to get married. Through braces, homecoming dances, homework, and Catholic school uniforms to college, the twists and turns of young adulthood and the real world, we were always thick as thieves. We had each other by our sides no matter what. Now, we can’t wait to start our lives together in marriage with God at the forefront. We want to be examples that love always wins, and that God can bless you with your soulmate when you may least expect it.

Michael is the creative, seemingly quieter one, and I am more analytical yet more outwardly bubbly. We are both perfectionists in our own ways but love to laugh about the dumbest things and appreciate anyone with a sense of humor and lightness. We simply love each other and could have fun doing just about anything. We are both devout Catholics and want to start our marriage with God as our top priority and strength. We believe that this can get us through whatever life brings us, and we thank Him for bringing us together. Our love is what it always was from the start- pure and simple. All we ever needed was each other. We are each others best friends and we compliment each other in every way.”

And Michael added the following:

“I met Anna when I was fifteen years old. It was love at first sight. Over all these years together with such a deep and beautiful love, we’ve built up years of such amazing and passionate memories. Anna is the light of my world, the valley for my tears, and the soul to my song. She is my everything.”

Keep scrolling for highlights from their wonderful engagement session at the Notre Dame Chapel at Trinity Washington College and The Lincoln Memorial!

Michelle with Lieb Photographic is a Northern Virginia Wedding Photographer, a Charlottesville Wedding Photographer and photographs destinations worldwide. To see more weddings and engagement sessions in the Washington DC area, view the Washington DC Wedding Venues page. If you’d like to explore some more of my favorite wedding venues in the Virginia and Washington D.C. areas, view the Wedding Venues page.