Hana and Yongky’s story spans the whole world – but it all started with a meeting at a conference in Chicago. At the time, both of them were constantly on the move: Yongky was working in IT for a large company, traveling all over the world, while Hana was balancing work, travel, and finishing up her schooling. Their lives already had this global rhythm to them – and somehow, they found each other right in the middle of it.
When Hana reached out to me back in February, she explained that while she is based in Pittsburgh managing real estate, Yongky is still doing a lot of traveling and he’d be heading back home to Indonesia soon. Their wedding is planned for back home in Indonesia later this year, but they wanted to take this season and celebrate their engagement here in the U.S. – a meaningful pause before everything shifts again.
Because of their tight timeline, waiting for warmer weather wasn’t really an option. So we leaned in and planned an early morning session around the Cathedral of Learning – right in the middle of one of the coldest stretches of the winter. Temperatures hovered around 0ºF that morning, and coming from Indonesia, it was a completely different kind of cold than they were used to. But they showed up ready to embrace it.
One of the things that made the Cathedral of Learning such a perfect location was the flexibility it gave us. We could step outside for a few quick moments, then immediately dash back inside to warm up. And we definitely took advantage of that! We moved in and out, laughing through the cold, and making the most of every little pocket of time we had outdoors before retreating inside.
We ended up finishing much of their session exploring the incredible architecture inside, which felt especially fitting. Hana and Yongky both genuinely love architecture (Hana has even studied it), and you could feel that appreciation in the way they moved through the space together. Between the quiet, historic interiors and the brisk, snowy moments outside, their session felt like this beautiful blend of resilience, intention, and the life they’re building across places and seasons.
