Capitol Romance: Eliza & Josh’s Offbeat, Nerdy Library Engagement Session

I met Eliza (the bride to be in this rad engagement I am about to unleash on you) after she was reffered to me for her awesomely sounding “DIY, small budget, internet hipster meets Tolkien & CS Lewis” wedding. It PAINED me to not be available to work their wedding, but I made Eliza promise I could share it here on Capitol Romance ;) We then shared some emails about Quidditch teams and other Harry Potter interests (she played on a team called the Badassalisks … I think I immediately called my husband to tell him this after reading her email). And then I cried a bit more about not being able to work their wedding.

But seriously though – Eliza and Josh are awesome and so naturally their offbeat, nerdy library themed engagement session was too! A special thanks to Stephen Deleon for the images.

Eliza & Josh’s Offbeat, Nerdy Library Engagement Session

About Us & How We Met:

Josh and Eliza met via a classic rom-com cliche — a wedding. Actually, the real story is a bit more convoluted. In 2007, Josh left behind a career as a classical pianist to enter law school in New York City. But his best friend and former roommate, Danny, asked Josh to play piano at his 2008 wedding in Richmond. Danny happens to be Eliza’s cousin, from her vast — and close! — Irish family. At this wedding, Josh caught sight of Eliza and was immediately enamored. Eliza was similarly enamored when introduced later that evening.

The two talked the rest of the night (completely ignoring friends and family) and promised to continue talking despite the distance between Pittsburgh (Eliza’s home) and New York. Several months and many hours of conversations later, Eliza told Josh she wanted to explore grad schools in NYC. Josh kindly offered a place to stay, which Eliza gladly and excitedly accepted.

In New York, Josh took Eliza to all his favorite places, and even a few schools, and Eliza gave Josh a hand-knit hat. Finally on the day before Eliza had to leave, Eliza and Josh confessed to one another their feelings and decided to give this long distance relationship a try.

The next year saw their relationship straddle the distance between Pittsburgh and New York, DC and New York, and Dublin (Ireland) and New York, until Eliza got that acceptance letter to a grad school in the city. Eliza moved in the fall of 2009. Still, she spent her summers in DC interning at federal agencies while Josh stayed in New York finishing his degree and working at law firms. When Eliza graduated, she moved back to DC to work as an embedded librarian while Josh remained in NYC working as lawyer.

Both are super-psyched for Eliza to move permanently to New York this fall.

Click inside for a TON more from Eliza & Josh’s super hip & slightly nerdy library engagement session! AND the proposal story!

The Proposal Story:

Four years later in July, Eliza was visiting Josh in New York. It was a beautiful day and the two has spent all of the day hanging at their favorite pub and park with friends. Eliza was growing increasingly suspicious of Josh’s antsiness, especially after he first dodged away for a call from her “brother” (later discovered to be a call to her parents) and then suggested a visit to Central Park, which all their friends were suddenly too busy to join.

Central Park was important to Eliza and Josh as one of the starting points of their relationship — they had first held hands while walking among its big boulders. So the two hopped on the subway and a few minutes later found a quiet rock to themselves in the bustling park. Josh began talking and reminiscing about their relationship. By now, Eliza had picked up all his tells (he cannot play poker with her) and knew what was coming.

Josh sweetly confessed his love again and asked if Eliza was excited to finally move back to NYC. Slyly Eliza said no, she was not excited before continuing to his aghast expression, “What I am most excited about is finally staying permanently with you.” With a relieved grin, Josh pulled out his great-grandmother’s ring and asked Eliza to marry him. She of course said yes, before pulling out a ring she’d selected for Josh and asking him “You know you have to return the favor, right?” Josh again laughingly said yes even as Eliza confessed she had known what was coming. Together both called their parents and siblings, while finishing the day with an ice cream snack from the New York classic Tasti Dlite.

Eliza sums their wedding up:

We’re offbeat-ers working with a small budget and a lot of DIY, trying our best to be true to ourselves in these wedding shenanigans.

Congratulations you too – I cannot WAIT to see how your wedding comes together :) Best of luck with the planning. A special thanks again to Stephen Deleon for sharing his images.