S. Carter Studios

My, oh, my. Dan and Brooke, I really couldn’t have asked for a better Saturday afternoon. You could see it in the glances they stole at each other as we drove around Lynchburg, the little smiles and funny faces when they thought we weren’t really looking. They are absolutely in love. Dan and Brooke met at Applebees, she was a hostess and he was a server.  I love that I know things about them that I don’t know about most couples, like that Dan called the place he ordered the ring from and told them under no circumstances were they allowed to tell any interested callers about her particular ring, because he wanted everything to be a secret :: a GREAT ring story coming later in the post::.

Brooke works with me at Liberty and I would like to point out that I totally called their engagement just before Christmas break! I’m so glad Josh and I could hang out with you guys today. You were perfect and I had a terrible time narrowing down photos for this post! I hope you guys enjoy just some of the great shots from this sunny afternoon!

Cheers to Dan who spotted these tubes from far away!

Yes, they made our job VERY easy by being so good looking!

Sneaking a peak at his bride-to-be. They’ve been commuting between Raleigh and Lynchburg to see each other as regularly as possible.

We may or may not have snuck into an abandoned warehouse to find some perfectly soft lighting. [I’m a little bummed because I was just previewing the post and saw that it kind of looks like Brooke’s hair behind Dan’s head makes him have a pretty dashing mullet. I’m going to leave this in there because I think that’s funny and I think they might think so too.)

Back in the fall, I asked Brooke what kind of engagement ring she’d like to have. I loved it when she said,”Wait, I’ll show you.” She and her mom had randomly gone browsing. You know, one of those, pick any ring in the whole store just because you like it type of things. Well, she found one she liked and had taken a picture of it. Months later when she wrote to tell me she was engaged, I asked about the ring and it was THE ring! I don’t know many girls who ever thing that dream is possible but Dan Gordon knows how to get it done! The first thing I did when Brooke got back in the office was take some decent pictures of it, you know, for Facebook, but I think this one tops all the others!

One of those looks I was telling you about!

A note about this picture: I love this picture for a few reasons: a) Josh took it and that makes me so proud b) it’s so intimate, passionate and tender at the same time. Even though he may pick little fights with her about where their first date technically was, and whether or not she splashed him too much in the river, he really, really loves her and this is a small evidence of that.

Finally, a requested and highly anticipated photo for the couple. Just 189 days and it will be official!