Chris and Ashley cannot thank their friends enough for setting them up as blind wedding dates. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be taking gorgeous engagement session photos at Planting Fields Arboretum. 

On Saturday, September 23, 2019, the day before his birthday, Chris popped the big question. He had been planning it for months. He asked Ashley’s mom to ask Ashley if their family could take him out for his birthday. Chris told Ashley he wanted to invite his parents and grandmother because their parents and families had never met before. Ashley did not suspect a thing. She was too preoccupied with the families meeting for the first time and Chris’s birthday. 

Everyone went out to dinner and then to Ashley’s parent’s house for birthday cake. After singing happy birthday, Chris blew out the candles. The room got really dark and when the lights came back on, there he was, on one knee asking Ashley to marry him. It was the perfect way to get engaged, surrounded by close family, in a location that has a lot of meaning. 

Ashley and Chris chose to do their engagement session at Planting Fields Arboretum after seeing photos of previous shoots on our blog. Additionally, Ashley’s older sister and her husband took their wedding photos there and loved them. 

As for the theme of the shoot, Ashley and Chris chose to incorporate a red buffalo plaid shirt as it is Chris’s signature shirt. Ashley wore a red buffalo plaid scarf and jeans with red buffalo plaid cut-outs to match. The photos look even more incredible because of how well they matched! 

Aside from the fall theme, Ashley and Chris left the direction of the shoot up to us! This allowed them to get to know us and our style, which is why we always recommend doing an engagement shoot. 

“It was a wonderful experience and am so happy that the engagement pictures were part of the photo package. So smart! I know for myself that I can get super nervous and awkward when I have a camera pointed at me. I get all in my head that I am going to blink, etc. Nicole and Josh made us feel so comfortable and at ease in front of the camera. I feel so much better prepared for the day of and am very much looking forward to working with the EXO team again!”

We had such a great time with Ashley and Chris. And what better way to get excited for your big day than your engagement session being exactly one year out from your wedding day? It could not have worked out more perfectly! We can’t wait for the big day!

Check out some of our other engagement sessions here!