The first thing that Briana and Jeremy had going for them is that they live near Philadelphia and they’re huge Flyer’s hockey fans.  They had me at that!  How’s that for deep and personal?  I giggle over here but as I think about it, building a friendship with my couples based on things we have in common is so important to me!  I don’t just want another couple’s wedding to photograph, they aren’t “just another bride and groom” to me.  From the first time that we meet, through the engagement session, the planning, the wedding day and beyond, they become friends of Andrew and I and our lives are richer because of our friendships with them!

In fact, after seeing an Instagram highlight that I posted of a behind the scenes look of Andrew and I shooting weddings together (check it out here!) Briana emailed me to make sure that Andrew would, in fact, be my second shooter on their Friday wedding.  She knew that if Andrew is the one photographing the guys the morning of the wedding, the guys will all have fun chatting about all things Philly!

Briana and Jeremy had actually won an engagement session at Syracuse’s Bridal Show (a show I did for years and years!) so they weren’t sure they needed a second one.  But when I shared how I love being able to do an engagement session for each of my couples in order for us to get to know each before the wedding day they agreed!

Briana texted me a few days after their session to say, “We wanted to say we had a great time getting to know you a bit more during the photo shoot and enjoyed our sneak peek photos you posted on Instagram!  We can’t wait to see the rest of the pictures!”  Well I can’t wait to share them!

We even had some fun with the dandelions that had gone to seed!

I had come to Franklin Square Park in Syracuse on Wednesday to scout it out for their engagement photos.  That day there were a very small handful of these purple flowers but when I arrived on Friday for their engagement session, they were in FULL bloom!  I was so excited and even more happy when I found out that Briana’s favorite color is purple!  You might have been able to tell that from her amethyst engagement ring!

Briana and Jeremy just so happened to be up from Philly to visit her family for Memorial Day.  The timing for their session and the blossoms was truly perfect!

Now that the weather has turned so nice, it was no surprise to us when we got to Franklin Square Park in Syracuse for their engagement photos that it was packed there!  There were sun bathers, picnic-ers (that’s a word right?) and even another photographer or two with high school seniors.  So after we got what we wanted at Franklin Square Park, we wandered down to the Creekwalk to wrap up their session.

We also were so thankful to have this beautiful sunshine to really make their pictures glow!

Ok I’m not going to lie.  I actually stopped a passerby walking along the Creekwalk and asked him if he would mind shaking this little tree so that the blossoms would rain down on Briana and Jeremy.  He was such a good sport about it and gladly accepted!  I loved the result!

I’m so glad you stopped by to check out Briana and Jeremy’s engagement session blog post!  I loved sharing their pictures with you and am even more excited to share their wedding photos with you from Tailwater Lodge this November!  Be sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook so you see all of their fun sneak peeks!  And if you’d like to chat with me about YOUR wedding or a photo session (or anything else for that matter!), shoot me an email here!  I’d love to hear from you!