Rachel is one of my very close friends. She and I have bonded over copious amounts of oatmeal and coffee. We were travel buddies. We explored cities in search of the next photo stop. Our idea of a good day was checking a new item off of our dessert calendar (yeah, we had one).

Needless to say, when she called me shortly after she got engaged, I was crossing my fingers that she was going to ask us to photograph her wedding. I love this girl to pieces and was hoping that we would be able to document this beautiful time in her life. 🙂 Lucky for me, my crossed fingers treated me well – and Thomas and I will be photographing her wedding in April!

In early October, Thomas and I made the trip to Jacksonville to shoot Rachel and Tommy’s engagement session! It was my first time meeting Tommy – and he is a gem! He treats Rachel so well, and put up with us for hours as we took pictures at the Cummer Museum and at Washington Oaks. But enough about us….let me tell you about their story!

Rachel and Tommy were friends with the same group of people, but somehow, their paths had never crossed. Once, Tommy asked his friend, “Who is this girl?” as he pointed to a photo on facebook. His friend told him about Rachel, and sounded surprised that they hadn’t met yet. Needless to say, Rachel became the “unicorn.” Mysterious, illusive, and apparently hard to find.

Then the day finally arrived. They finally met. It was a friend’s birthday brunch and Rachel was about to leave. Just as she was about to stand up, Tommy walked in the door. Of course, there was a little excitement in the air. Needless to say, Rachel and Tommy hit it off. They probably talked for another two hours and went on their first date two days later (they wore their first date outfit for the 2nd half of their shoot – how adorable!!) and have been together ever since.

This past June, Tommy had to head to Alaska for work (not too shabby, eh?) and three days before the trip – they decided to make it a trip for two. They spent three days together in Alaska, hiking, taking helicopter rides, and exploring glaciers. It was there in Alaska, that Tommy decided to bump his proposal up a few weeks. He made an excuse that he had to run into work and left Rachel for a few hours. During that time, he made the ever critical call to Rachel’s dad and went to a jewelry store to buy a temporary engagement ring. The next day, they took a sea-plane ride up near Mount McKinley. Tommy had spoken to the pilot about taking their photos as he proposed, but instead, an older couple offered to take a picture of the two of them shortly after they got out of the helicopter. Tommy frantically said, “No, no, I’ve already asked the pilot to take one.” and Rachel looked at him and said, “Who cares? They can take one now.” So, Tommy passed over his cell phone as Rachel passed over her Nikon to the unassuming couple. They got pretty far away (because of Rachel’s zoom lens) and Tommy got down on one knee. The couple started screaming, “Is he proposing? Oh my gosh! He’s proposing!! He’s doing it!!!!” (I’m literally laughing as I type this out – I can only imagine). Yes, he did it. Rachel said yes, and now they are planning their spring wedding!

Rachel and Tommy, we are so excited for you both. You guys have got it together. I’m so proud of you both and all that you’ve accomplished and what a team you’ve become together. I know you have so many great adventures ahead of you! 🙂

Shout out to Studio Bride for doing Rachel’s hair and makeup! Thrilled to see this session featured over on Trendy Bride!