Calvin & Stephanie’s Alexandria, VA Waterfront Engagement

Today is flying by after I try to play catch up from a weekend visiting family up in New Jersey. It’s still a disaster zone up there people, and it was shocking to see the destruction from Hurricane Sandy first hand. I invite you all again to please keep the victims affected by this natural disaster in your thoughts and if you have resources to share, consider donating money, blankets & goods, or your time. If you cannot donate, I won’t hold it against you, but I would ask that you maybe share something like this effort, “Restore the Shore” on your social media.

Ok, but back to blogging I will go and how slightly ironic that my schedule has an engagement along the waterfront as my first post back. This one is in from Carrie Holbo Photography and it features Calvin & Stephanie, a stunning sunset, and some beautiful shots along the water in Northern Virginia.

Calvin & Stephanie’s Alexandria, VA Waterfront Engagement

How they met:

Calvin and I met my sophomore year of high school, unfortunately timing just didn’t work out for us then.  Both of us were unavailable then, but I’ll admit I enjoyed seeing his smiling face everyday at school.  He also always tells me, “…ever since screen printing…”, claiming that he’s loved me ever since a screen printing class we were in together.  What a sweet talker.  

Anyway, fast forward about five years…I was moving back to Virginia from Ohio (where I finished up college) and came across Calvin’s facebook page.  Of course, I added him and the rest is history! I came back to Virginia and we’ve pretty much been inseparable ever since.

i LOVE the shade of Stephanie’s lace dress! – how awesome would bridesmaids look in that ?!

Click inside for the rest of this beautiful Northern Virginia engagement session & for Calvin & Stephanie’s proposal story!

Now we’ve been together for 2 1/2 years and have lived together for about a year, and because we’re both such planners…it was no secret that we were going to get married!  I just didn’t know when/how he was going to ask…like a lot of girls in my situation, every time we did something remotely special I would think it was coming…then it wouldn’t!

 But I have to say, the way he ended up doing it…totally caught me off guard.  I seriously had no clue.  On Monday, March 26th…we both got off work around 5 and rushed home so we could go out to dinner with his family to celebrate his birthday.  We had such a fun dinner with his family then headed over to his parents’ house for a little bit where we just sat around watching tv for a bit until I started getting tired and needed to head home.  We got home and I immediately put my pajama’s on then headed to the kitchen to grab a glass of water where Calvin was standing with a too-big-to-be-a-ring box.

 He said it was a gift his sister from Florida sent him for his birthday, but that she warned him it may not be appropriate to open in front of the family.  Well, that sounds exactly like his sister, so I didn’t ask any questions.

Next thing I know, he dropped to his knee (literally…I think he was so nervous his knee was probably bruised after that), he opened the box and there was my ring with a fortune he had gotten a few days earlier that said ‘Stop searching for happiness, it’s right next to you.’  …then of course I said yes!

He said that’s exactly what he wanted more than anything for his birthday.  :)

These next few shots with the painted heart are my FAVORITE!

Congratulations Calvin & Stephanie ~ thank you for sharing your love story with us. A special thanks again to Carrie Holbo Photography for sharing this beautiful Northern Virginia engagement session on the Alexandria, VA waterfront!