They met at Jimmy John’s. Yep. Jimmy John’s! In classic college love story fashion, they met at Jimmy John’s and they connected on facebook one night when Leaona was working late. Steven took Leaona’s friend request as a “go” and confidently decided to move forward in getting to know her :] And thank goodness he did! Through a few bumbles and missteps, Steven kept moving forward confidently with Leaona and got her to agree to a date. And when they finally went out, he brought along a jar of banana peppers instead of flowers…successfully proving himself to be the guy for her! She admits she still doesn’t know why she kept saying yes, but obviously it’s been the best thing for the both of them! They had a whirlwind of a romance and have spent the last five years together, now more confident than ever. They’ve navigated through different seasons of life, living together, becoming bird parents, and even that time that Leaona sneakily found the engagement ring :] And they’re tying the knot at the place where it all started, Virginia Tech campus!

Time with Steven and Leaona is time spent at ease. They’re funny and kind and inquisitive. They joke back and forth with each other in a way that only couples with a long history can do. Steven never misses an excuse to hold his girl and Leaona has the best smile in his arms. We split their session between Pandapa’s Pond (one of the first places they interacted!) and VT’s campus and it was just gorgeous. As we wandered through the park at sunrise on a foggy, chilly morning we exchanged stories and laughed together…and you’d just never know the time or the temperature by the smiles on their faces. They were fresh off an adventure to Spain and you can just tell that they love life lived by each other’s sides. It’s going to be super hard to wait until August to get to do this all over again!

So, so excited to share their sunrise session with you!

So fun!

Leaona. Girl. So, so gorgeous!

I’m telling you guys, the light was insane!

Of course, we had to stop where it all began!

Their ceremony spot!