Happy Monday, friends! I’m so delighted to share a few favorites from Natalie and Michael’s engagement session! Jay and I met up with them on a perfect spring day last month at Mindowaskin Park in Westfield, NJ. Jay and I had never shot there before but it’s the spot where Michael proposed to Natalie so it was the perfect place for their engagement session! I always love when our couples pick a place that is special to them for their engagement photos and this park did not disappoint! It was a perfect choice! We loved getting to know Natalie and Michael and hearing about the plans for their wedding day, which is coming up in just a few short months. This is quite the year for them – engaged and married in the same year! We’re so happy to be documenting their love story and so excited for their September Grand Marquis Wedding! Congratulations, Natalie and Michael! Thank you for spending your evening with us!
How they met:
Natalie: We actually met each other online. Reading his profile I was immediately intrigued. He sounded so fun and happy. He was so handsome too! I knew I had to message him. I got a sense of Michael in that very first message he sent me, he was full of energy and happiness. I excitedly wrote back and we started messaging back and forth. It quickly turned into phone calls and texts. Our conversation was so natural and fun. Our first date came shortly after!
Michael: Natalie and I met online through a dating website. It was actually Natalie who found me! I remember the excitement I felt when I received her first message and I knew immediately that I wanted to get to know her better. We had so much in common and I found her so attractive. Over the next few days we spent hours on the phone and before a week had passed we had our first date. The rest is history.
Their first date:
Natalie: I remember being so excited. I already felt we had this special connection, as if we already knew each other. Even the day of our first date, we texted each other saying how we couldn’t wait to see each other. I remember walking into the restaurant with my umbrella and seeing Michael standing there at the entrance. We both looked at each other smiling and hugged right there. Once we sat down I saw him look at me and he was giving me this unbelievable look that triggered this unbelievable feeling in me. I was so caught off guard by this feeling; it was something I had never experienced before. We talked for hours over dinner and then we walked around outside to continue our conversation. I don’t think either of us wanted the date to end and have to part ways. It felt like we were already us. He still gives me that unbelievable feeling when he looks at me.
Michael: I remember our first date like it was yesterday. I had chosen an Italian restaurant in my home town to meet for dinner. As I waited for her I was filled with anticipation but also comfort, as if I had already known her so well. I remember sitting inside watching the front door and the raindrops running down its windows until she finally arrived underneath her umbrella. I was so happy to see her and couldn’t believe that she was even more attractive than she looked in her picture. As we hugged I felt a wave of calmness wash over me. Everything about our date felt so natural. I remember the details like what she wore, what we ate, what we talked about, and our walk after dinner, but most of all I remember the flood of emotions I felt that night. It was something special and new and exciting. They are emotions I still feel to this day.
When they knew:
Natalie: Looking back it was all so immediate. There was something that very first day that has never gone away, it has just grown. I remember describing to him early in our relationship that I had this complete feeling inside me now. My heart is filled with overflowing love, happiness, and peace and I always feel at home with him. That feeling, that love we share, it’s always been there and it’s always growing. I’m so lucky to get every day with my best friend!
Michael: I knew Natalie was the one from early on. I loved how compatible we were but most important to me was the way she made me feel. Everything felt perfect and seemed to make sense when I was with her. Naturally my feelings grew more and more each day until I was finally ready to declare my love to her. Unbelievably those feelings are still growing and I know they will never stop.
The proposal:
Natalie: Michael brought us to our first date spot, our usual spot for celebrating, this past Valentine’s Day. On our way home Michael “spontaneously” suggested we stop in our park to go into the gazebo. It’s not odd for us to stop at gazebos so I chimed along and told him it was a great idea! We walked into the serene snow covered park and everything looked so magical. We were under the gazebo kissing, talking, and laughing when Michael pulled me over to the side of the gazebo. He started to tell me how he wants to spend every day of his life with me and I responded back to him, not realizing this was leading to his proposal. As he kept telling me more I continued responding, telling him everything I felt too. Then it dawned on me that maybe this was more than a conversation and I should be a little quieter. I looked at him and smiled and he kept telling me everything he envisioned for us and our life as he smiled back at me. He was so calm and confident and then got down on one knee and asked me “will you be my wife?” I said yes and grabbed him up to hug and kiss him and said yes again! We had the biggest smiles on and he got back down on one knee and told me he had to put the ring on me. It was the sweetest moment and we were in our beautiful park with nobody around us, enjoying our engagement and moment together. Even leaving the park a bunch of little ducklings started waddling out of the water straight towards us quacking to congratulate us on our engagement! It was perfect.
Michael: It was a snowy Valentine’s Day as we headed off for dinner to the restaurant where we had our first date, a tradition we keep every year. I had planned the proposal weeks ago and couldn’t wait to ask her to be my wife. After our dinner I acted like I came up with the spontaneous idea to visit the gazebo in the park we went to on one of our first dates. Natalie was unsuspecting because gazebos have always been special to us and we have stopped many times before to go inside them. We walked into the park, serene and covered with snow, and made our way to the gazebo. I walked her to one side of the gazebo and began telling her how special she is to me and how excited I am to spend the rest of my life with her. At first she responded to everything I said, but as the realization settled in she became quiet. After expressing my love for her I knelt down and proposed. She gave me an excited “yes” and pulled me to my feet for a hug and a kiss before I could even put the ring on her finger. After more hugging and kissing I knelt back down and slipped the ring on. It was a blissful night and I couldn’t have asked for it to have gone any better. Even a family of ducks waddled out of the nearby lake and congratulated us with enthusiastic quacks as we left the park.
One thing they love about each other:
Natalie: One thing is so hard! I love that Michael can make every day special, that he finds happiness in the small things, gets excited with me, and he can always make me smile.
Michael: It is so difficult to choose just one thing, but I love how Natalie always finds a way to bring me sunshine even on my cloudiest days.
Besides getting married, one thing they are looking forward to on their wedding day:
Natalie: On our wedding day I look forward to sharing our excitement and happiness from the first moment of the day to the last. I’m looking forward to sharing that happiness and energy that day and forever. I can’t wait for Michael to be my husband and start our married life. We have so much ahead for us.
Michael: I am looking forward to starting our married life together. There are endless adventures ahead for us and I couldn’t be happier that I will share every moment of them with Natalie as my wife.
Our last stop was at the restaurant where they had dinner on the day they got engaged – so sweet!
A Mindowaskin Park Engagement by NJ Wedding Photographers Idalia Photography, a husband and wife photography team based in Central New Jersey. Contact us for more information.
