Nathan & Amy | Winter Engagement Session in North Huntingdon, PA

The pews in the old church were wooden & super creaky. Any small adjustment to your position let everyone around you know that you had just moved. The sun streamed in thru the stained glass windows along the sides of the sanctuary and the white altar area fairly glowed from the reflection of the morning light.

My Dad reached over & tapped the young, blonde, spectacled teenage boy in front of us on the shoulder. “Hi, you look about the same age as my daughter – have you met her yet?” My little sister Amy’s cheeks began to turn pink as the boy turned around to get a glimpse of her. He smiled a shy grin & said, “Hi,” to which she responded, “Hi” back. Turns out – they were about the same age – Amy was actually a little older than the boy. They were 16 & 15 years old.

Since our families almost always sat in the same creaky, wooden pews week after week, Amy & (we soon found out his name was) Nathan began to make a habit of chatting with one another after the church service was over. It wasn’t long before a little friendship formed.

Fast forward one year, two years, three years – eight years – and that brings us to today. Guess what? That little introduction my Dad made between 2 shy teenagers blossomed into quite a bit more than just a cute friendship over the wooden pews of the old Calvary Chapel Westmoreland church building. In fact – they’re getting married – finally – this summer!

We all knew a proposal was coming – it was one of those “just a matter of time” proposals. It was blatantly obvious to everyone who knew them – Amy & Nathan would one day get married. There was just one “obstacle” in the way: college. Nathan was dedicated to completing his Corrosion Engineering degree from The University of Akron before getting married. (Yes, Corrosion Engineering – that means Nathan is way smarter than the average “Joe”.)

The Norwin Community Picnic at Idlewild Park has become a staple in Amy & Nathan’s relationship. They have attended together every single year since they met in 2012. So, we all counted down the days until the Community Picnic because, if Nathan was going to propose, he was obviously going to propose at Idlewild (probably at the top of the ferris wheel – where they always take a photo – at least, that was my guess).

The day of the 2018 Norwin Community Picnic arrived – and we all held our breath. We always spend time in the waterpark, and when Nathan announced that he was going to rent a locker to put his stuff in – we all knew. The big day had arrived. We all waited on pins & needles, with baited breath (and camera ready) for the big moment. Alas, it never arrived. We left Idlewild that night, semi-disappointed & wondering, “Why did Nathan pay to rent a locker?”

As it turns out, there was a reason: he did in fact have a very sparkly diamond ring in his stuff that he simply could not risk leaving out. Even though Idlewild Park is a super special place for Amy & Nathan and they have a million memories there, the right moment simply did not present itself. As they left the park to drive home, Nathan purposefully took “a detour” to the one place more special than Idlewild Park – the old church building they had met one another in. It’s no longer a church – Calvary Chapel Westmoreland has since purchased a new building & the new owners of the old building turned it into a dance studio – but the building & the memories remain.

Nathan parked on the street & they both looked up at the brick building that had brought them together. And Amy knew. If she had suspected all day long that today might be a special day, she suddenly knew. They got out of the car & stood on the sidewalk, reminiscing of days gone by. And, well, the moment was finally right. After 6 long years of cultivating a beautiful, strong, deep friendship, Nathan (finally) proposed they flip the boyfriend/girlfriend status on it’s head & asked Amy to marry him. And, of course, she (finally) said yes.

If you think this post is a little long, or overly emotional, it’s because Amy is my little sister & Nathan is soon-to-be my newest brother-in-law. I love these two kids more than anything in the world, so having the privilege of taking some engagement photos for them sent me over the moon. Amy specifically wanted a snowy engagement session, so we patiently waited all winter last year – eventually giving up that we would get the snow we were hoping for. So, when this winter rolled around, we watched the weather forecast like a pair of hawks. When a freak snowstorm blew thru, we sprang into action!! By the time Nathan got out of work & made it to my parent’s house, the sun had just about set & the snow was already melting. But, we made it work & I’m so thankful we did!

Meet Ruby – our littlest sister & the best coat-carrying, umbrella-wielding, bag-slinging person there is!

Oh – oops! Well, the secret is out! Hopefully, I successfully tricked you into thinking we shot thru the most beautiful golden sunset ever – when in reality, by the time we got outside – the sun had already reached the horizon. I had come prepared though & set up my flash to mimic the sun & we created our own golden hour! I’m a rockstar (and Amy & Nathan are rockstars before it was super-duper cold!)