As they say, the best relationships stem from the best friendships. This proves true yet again with couple Michelle and Domenic. We had the pleasure of getting to know their love story while taking their engagement photos at Planting Fields Arboretum. 

Our soon-to-be bride and groom met during their freshman year at The College of William and Mary. Domenic played football and Michelle played lacrosse. Only a few days into their freshman year, the two met and instantly formed a connection. Domenic knew right away that Michelle was the woman for him, however, Michelle needed a bit more convincing. The two remained just friends for months until finally, they both felt that spark. Domenic asked Michelle to be his girlfriend and the two have been by each others’ side ever since. 

Six years later, Domenic told Michelle he was planning a birthday surprise for her. Michelle spends almost every birthday at Fire Island so when they ended up there for her birthday, she didn’t suspect a thing. That was, of course, until she turned around to find Domenic down on one knee.

Fire Island was the perfect location for the proposal seeing as though almost exactly six years to the day, they told each other they loved each other right there. 

The now-engaged couple met their parents who were waiting to surprise them at Michelle’s favorite bar on Fire Island. From there, everyone took a very special boat ride back to Michelle’s hometown where the rest of her family was waiting with champagne and flowers. 

Michelle and Domenic chose Planting Fields Arboretum for their engagement session after scrolling through our photos on our website! Since their wedding is on a beach, they wanted a change of scenery and decided the Planting Fields Arboretum was just the spot! It also reminded them of their college campus, so what’s not to love? 

The couple did not have a plan for their shoot, which many of our couples do not. Instead, they decided to leave it up to us. “It was so great getting to meet Nicole and Josh in person. Now we have complete confidence that they will capture our big day beautifully. They were very helpful with instructing us on how to pose and let us try out a bunch of different poses so that on our wedding we will have a better idea of what we liked. They made us feel so comfortable, and they didn’t make us feel rushed. [Nicole and Josh] were calm and communicative and worked extremely well together. – we really enjoyed our session and they made it fun! Domenic even enjoyed the session and he is not usually a huge fan of taking photos!” 

There was one thing Michelle and Domenic kept in mind though, the date of their wedding. Due to the pandemic, they had to postpone both their engagement shoot and their wedding. They decided to reschedule their engagement shoot for the weekend their wedding was supposed to be. It allowed them to feel like a bride and groom again despite rescheduling their wedding for next year. 

While many things have changed during this unusual time, the love we have of capturing other’s love remains the same. We had such an incredible time at Planting Fields Arboretum with Michelle and Domenic. We cannot wait until the wedding next year!

Click here to check out some of our other blogs!