While Hurricane Sandy begins to rear it’s ugly head our way, I’ll be taking this opportunity to catch up on blogging, my email, and some hardcore pinterest action for some of my 2013 couples :) Kicking off my couch-working day is this adorable Washington, DC engagement session from Porter Watkins Photography [submitted via Two Bright Lights].
Bride to be, Bernadette, shared:
We are giant nerds, and part of what we share the most is our love of books. Idle Time is one of our favorite bookstores, especially the mix of old and new. We also love DC, and Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park is close to home, and the monuments are one of the things that make this city really special, so we wanted to include all of that in our engagement shoot.
A love of books = the bookstore as your engagement session location. Duh – plus I loved that they incorporated a TON of DC into the shoot AND just wait until you see what Porter does with their shots by the monuments. Probably some of my favorite engagement pictures ever! Enjoy.
Bernadette & Mike’s Book Store, Washington DC Engagement Session
About Bernadette:
I grew up in LA in a strong Chinese-American community and decided to explore other places and went to the University of Pennsylvania for undergrad. I thought I was going to do politics – which is funny considering how bad I am at schmoozing with people i don’t know – and while working, I found out about the Master’s in Public Health/Master’s in International Development Studies program at George Washington University, and decided I wanted to work in public health, especially HIV/AIDS and reproductive health and family planning, in developing countries.
About Mike:
I grew up in Northern Virginia, and moved to upstate NY for high school and college when my father retired from the government. I thought I was going to be a veterinarian in my Freshman year at Cornell, but after organic chemistry decided to go with my strengths in history and international relations. I did volunteer stints in Belfast and Peace Corps in Nepal, working on Maternal and Child Health programs. After working at Peace Corps HQ, I figured it was time to go to grad school and was impressed by the International Development Studies program at George Washington University, and now I work for the government on emergency disaster assistance programs in sub-Saharan Africa.
How they met:
So, clearly we met through the GW International Development Studies program, where we were also fortunate to meet some great friends we still have in our lives today. Mike asked Bernadette out first, and while she was a little reluctant and there was a bit of rocky start, we became good friends and started officially dating shortly after graduating. Mike lived in a group house of graduate school friends, who all feel like they’re responsible for bringing (and keeping) us together.
It’s been a great six years of working towards causes we both care about, being surrounded by equally devoted and awesome friends in DC, and exploring the city we work, love, and live in.
Click inside for the rest of Bernadette & Mike’s adorable Washington, DC lovin’ engagement session by Porter Watkins Photography ~ AND their proposal story!
The engagement:
So, Mike had been planning a B&B weekend near some civil war battlefields (our favorite thing – well, his), and our plans got a little derailed by a surprise work trip for him to the Sudan. Bernadette had no idea this was when he planned to propose. He seemed really stuck on doing a B&B thing anyway, so he reserved a night at Akwaaba in Dupont Circle.
We took our favorite fancy bus – the S2 – to the restaurant, Sushi Taro, where we had a delicious Japanese dinner and then went to the B&B. When we got to our room, there were rose petals and candles everywhere and champagne and strawberries. All Bernadette remembers is being really, really warm and really wanting to take off her coat, and being very confused about what happened to our room (she is not as much of a romantic).
But of course, when the man you love gets down on one knee and proposes to you with a beautiful ring and a heartfelt proposal, even the least romantic of people has to get a little bit mushy. Obviously, Bernadette said yes, and Mike left for Africa the next day.
This last shot – I DIE. SO freakin’ awesome!
Congratulations Bernadette & Mike ~ thank you for sharing your love story and engagement session with us. A special thanks again to Porter Watkins Photography & Two Bright Lights for making this DC engagement feature possible!
