From the Photographer
After a few attempts and a schedule hiccup with some major bridge down in Maryland, we finally were able to meet up with Amber & Eric! They were traveling a long way to meet up with their venue and decided to drive up to Valley Forge for the engagement session & I think they will agree that it was an epic time! We had so much fun exploring the park, and I learned about how someone can make an excellent Mickey Mouse impression with something about Zebras. 😅 Their story is amazing and we recommend you drive into their story as told by them.
How they Met
We met through a mutual friend. Our friend put us in a facebook group chat together because he thought we had a lot in common. So we started talking in that group chat, getting to know each other, we went on two dates before deciding to be official. Then RIGHT after he went on a trip to Glacier National Park and almost chopped his arm off with a hatchet while cutting firewood, which When Eric realized that he wanted to call me first right after doing that, that was when he knew he was in love with me (I already knew before that but I didn't want to be the first one to say it)
The Proposal
So Eric had been planning it for months. He had the ring custom made and had planned to do it right before thanksgiving so that we could tell the family at thanksgiving. I should start by saying I 100% knew it was coming despite him trying very hard to keep it a secret. I was excited because we originally weren't going to consider marriage until after he obtained his master's degree, but he decided he wanted to choose a different career path outside of college. So, that opened up us getting married a lot sooner (I certainly wasn't complaining)
He Proposed to me up on a mountain trail with the most gorgeous overlook. Hiking was something the both of us LOVED doing and something we bonded over so it was the perfect plan. However... the perfect plan almost ended up putting me in the hospital instead. I had JUST been released from the hospital after two blood transfusions, so my energy levels were still really low. I had also JUST gotten over Covid and my lungs were still recovering. To get to where he wanted to propose to me, we had to hike up quite possibly the steepest trail I've ever done with him. We had to make multiple stops on the way up because I kept feeling like I was going to pass out. The whole time we're going up, I knew he what was happening and I knew he wanted pictures at sunrise, so I was trying to push forward so that I didn't make us miss the sunrise. Meanwhile, Eric was feeling extremely guilty and was super worried about my health.
That being said, after we made it to the overlook and I could sit down for a moment, the proposal went off without any other problems. I was super excited. He hid the ring inside of what we like to call "Franken-Gourd." Which was a gourd he'd cut up and sewn back together after putting the ring inside. He claimed it was meant to be a "prop" for our fall pictures. Then he got on one knee, opened the gourd, and asked me to marry him.
Best Part of the Engagement
To be honest, we'd been living together since the start of the pandemic due to me not really having a spot to go to when my college said we'd have to go home. His family let me stay with him. So there honestly hasn't been much of a change as far us us learning to live with each other or anything.
I think our favorite part about being engaged is being able to "plan" out our lives from here knowing that we're in it together for sure now. We both love each other's families and we're just excited to be able to spend life together from here on out.
Some Advice from the Couple
Personally, we would recommend giving yourselves time to plan the wedding. We gave ourselves 2 years to plan it and it's been extremely helpful in regards to making sure we have everything done and paid for without it being too stressful. Since we were able to space everything out, financially, we won't owe anything on the wedding after it's done. I know a lot of people who take out loans for their wedding and are still paying on it years after. We won't have to worry about that because we paid for everything within those 2 years and spaced it out. This gives us more peace of mind for plans we have after the wedding. It's genuinely made the entire experience way more fun, exciting, and less stressful.
The other thing I would say is don't be afraid to look at vendors outside of the area you're having the wedding. Like if we had stuck to the vendors recommended by the venue or just in the area, we never would've found Christman Photography and I actually can't imagine having a different photographer now. Sometimes paying to have your vendors travel for you to get what you want for your wedding is just completely worth it.
