Mollie and Garrett – An Alexandria Engagement Session – Charlottesville Wedding Photographer

Engagements

Apr 18, 2017

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It’s no secret that I LOVE Old Town Alexandria engagement session. Search pinterest for Alexandria Engagement Session and you will find a few of mine from the last few years…it’s just a charming old town close to DC. It’s not hard to see why Washington wanted it! So when Mollie and Garrett wanted to go here for their engagement session, I was pretty excited!

Mollie and Garrett are truly a sweet couple with chemistry, friendship and love. They are so much fun to work with and they have such sweet plans for their wedding day and their marriage. And here are three fun facts about these two:

1. Garrett proposed in the middle of an ice skating rink! (Read on to hear the whole story)

2. They decided to put their relationship on hold while they completed their most difficult year in school so they could focus on their academics (how mature is that????!!).

3. They are big foodies and LOVE the DC area but are planning a Walden Hall wedding in a beautiful part of the state of Virginia!

In Garrett’s own words, here is a quick narrative of their precious love story thus far:

“Our love story really starts about four years ago when we were just starting junior year of college. We were both at a party hosted by mutual friends and started dancing with each other. We really didn’t just dance though, we struck up a great conversation in the middle of this dark, sweaty, dance floor and talked about all sorts of things…kind of like we were on a nervous first date and wanted to ask every question we could to get to know each other. After that night, I had to see this girl again. I got her number and asked to meet up the next day, which we did. We continued our late night talk for about three hours at a Panera. I remember leaving there feeling like I had about no other girl. We continued to see each other and realized we really had something. Unfortunately, we also had one of the busiest academic years either of us would have. Mollie had just gotten into nursing school and I was in the notorious Junior Year of the engineering program. We decided that if we wanted to put 100% towards our relationship we should not try and balance it with our academics. Looking back, I am so convinced that this move we made saved our relationship and our success in school…which helped place us where we are today.

So with that foundation, we started talking again the summer of our senior year when we were interning in DC. We decided to meet up for dinner, thinking we were just going to meet up and catch up as old friends. But, everything just seemed so right. We jumped right back into where we were and had an amazing summer exploring the city and spending as much time as we could with each other. We dated that year and have been continually growing together since then for almost three years now. There are very few tough times, but in the end we work so compatible with each other that those tough times are always supported by a willingness to get even stronger together. We are constantly exploring and checking things off our bucket list. We are beer and food connoisseurs (or at least we think we are) and we never stop pushing each other to do something new and fun. I can’t imagine spending these moments with anyone else and I know that is something that will never fade away.”

And to just add to the joy of this story, here is Garrett’s perspective on how he proposed:

“I proposed to Mollie on December 22nd, 2016. I had asked her Mom and Dad for their blessing and bought a ring a few months prior. I wanted to keep everything an absolute secret, so besides our parents and a few close friends, no one knew it was coming. I had it in my head that I would propose somewhere in DC, because that is really where our first few dates were together and it is always a sentimental spot to go to for us. I was super nervous, so I did a dry run of the route a few days before and kind of worked out some details in my head so I felt comfortable about it running smoothly that day. I think because of my technical background, I did this just out of assurance so I wouldn’t get too nervous on the spot and not know exactly what to do.

So that day, I got off work early to make reservations at a place we had been dying to go to in DC, Rose’s Luxury. They only take reservations the day of your visit and you have to wait outside in line for reservations. So I ended up driving into DC and waiting about 1.5 hours to get a spot later that night. I drove back home and picked Mollie up (telling her I was just getting off work). I knew that it may be a while till we ate and I wanted to keep her in a good mood, so I had some snacks in the car for her. I brought her to the ice skating rink in the Sculpture Garden which had been on our bucket list. We put our skates on and after some warming up I started to plan when I would get down on one knee. The rink was crowded so I had a difficult time thinking about how I would pull her out of the crowd, and unexpectedly the loud speaker went off and said everyone needed to clear the ice for the zamboni. I pulled her into the center of the ring and got down on one knee somehow without falling over! She had no idea what was going on until I pulled the ring out and she happily said yes.

We skated off the ice and were met by my photographer friend who had captured the whole thing and took some more pictures with us after. We got in our car and called our immediate family surprising them with the good news and continued our euphoric moment to the surprise dinner. We undoubtedly had one of the most amazing meals we have ever had and plenty of celebration and congrats from the staff there. Overall, I think we can confidently say it was the best day of our lives together (so far).”

I had so much fun with them and I can’t wait for their Walden Hall wedding this fall!

Congratulations Mollie and Garrett!

Location: The Streets of Old Town Alexandria, The Carlyle House and Prince Street

Florals: The Posey Detail

Michelle Lieb with Lieb Photographic is a Charlottesville Wedding Photographer, Culpeper Wedding Photographer, Fredericksburg Wedding Photographer, Alexandria Wedding Photographer, Washington DC Wedding Photographer, Williamsburg Wedding Photographer, High Country Wedding Photographer and a wedding photographer in the surrounding areas.

 

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