To everyone out there reading this who is engaged to be married – CONGRATS!!! This is such an exciting time in your life as a couple. You’re head-over-heels in love, you’re dating but now have the exact same ‘goal’ in mind – marriage! To each other! For the rest of your lives! :-D

For me as a wedding photographer, engagements are such a fun way for us to get to know each other before the wedding, and creating some lovely photos is a bonus!

With living in Custer State Park for the past year, I have found some new favorite locations and I’m so thankful for all the couples who were willing to drive a little bit further for some different scenery. Some couples this year also chose to do their photos at sunrise, which then gave a whole new perspective to these beautiful Black Hills!

To all my couples who invited me to document this exciting, yet typically short-lived, period of their relationship, THANK YOU!! Thank you for sharing your story with me and for walking alongside me to create some lovely photos.

To all those planning your wedding now, please please remember to soak in your feelings for each other at this very moment! Journal it, photograph it, enjoy it! :-)

More and more of my couples are opting for sunrise engagement sessions and I am LOVING IT! Especially since sunrise this time of year isn’t until after 7am. But then again, during this time of year, none of us can feel our fingers at sunrise, which made this first photo even colder than it looks. Poor Becca had Mike’s ice-cold fingers on her neck, and there were some really hilarious outtakes that I can’t wait to share in my annual ‘best of’ blog post coming soon! ;-) But look how romantic they look despite freezing their fingers off!! #engagementsessiongoals

These two were so giggly during their session, that I hardly had to say anything to get them to get genuine smiles. Such naturals!

Plus, since it was so cold out, they automatically snuggled up as close as possible. *bonus points!!*

Mike + Becca – I can hardly wait for your morning wedding this coming summer!! I fully expect you to have some PB Bumpers to share with your guests. :-)

Whenever a couple agrees to a sunrise session, I always get really excited to photograph an ‘old’ location in a ‘new’ way. And then I get really nervous that I’m going to sleep through my alarm.

That fear of sleeping in had me awake before my alarm went off, and I was out the door with my camera and hand warmers with plenty of time to spare. When David + Marcy pulled up, I couldn’t wait to show them the location I had scouted just a few days before. Since they had traded a leisurely morning of their weekend getaway to get up super early for pictures, I wanted to treat them to the best overlook I could find.

As we walked, I got plenty of time to chat with them and hear their story, and bond over our mutual awkwardness and freezing fingers. :-)

When Marcy told me before their session that David was ‘a whole foot taller’ than her, I immediately knew I wanted this next photo. How many girls can snuggle up right to their guy’s heart like this?! :-)

When Tarrise + Amy’s scheduled engagement session time called for rain (which ended up including a bit of snow), we agreed a sunrise session would be better weather-wise. We had no idea the lake we picked for photos would be steaming when we got there! I think it’s safe to say, the early wake-up was TOTALLY worth it!!!

Tarrise + Amy – Thanks again for getting up so early! I hope you enjoyed your weekend in the Black Hills, and I can’t wait to see you again in August!!!

Joe + Victoria live in New York City, so for their engagement photos, they wanted to be surrounded by nature and animals, two things that are hard to come by in their daily lives. We had so much fun feeding a kind, gentle burro and trying to decipher the prairie dogs calls. What a beautiful, beautiful evening in Custer State Park!

Joe + Victoria – I absolutely can not wait for your wedding this winter! I’ve already ordered a lovely snowfall with reasonable temperatures for your day. ;-)