Eric and Natalie have some sweet, scheming friends to thank for their upcoming marriage :] They were a well planned set up by their mutual friends. Eric in Newport News. Natalie in Charlottesville. Both at the same cabin for one weekend. And what do you know! Sparks flew :] They spent the weekend laughing and getting to know each other and their friends were totally right! They hit it off! Eric even had a backup plan just in case the weekend was a bust! But lucky for them both, he never had to use it. And they both felt enough of a connection to enter into a long distance relationship. It was worth it to them. The two of them are no strangers to perseverance and pursuit. They spent five long years doing long distance! Letters and phone calls and skype and email made up a significant amount of their communication. Especially during Eric’s eight month deployment! It’s pretty remarkable that they stayed close through it all, falling more and more in love. Five years after it all started, Eric took Natalie camping and promised to put an end to the distance, ring pop in hand. They were engaged and they celebrated by road tripping around the country for a few months! Finally side by side.

Our time with Eric and Natalie was so wonderful. I loved seeing the way they were more comfortable with each other than anywhere else. How they glanced back and forth as they shared stories. The way Eric added in asides as Natalie detailed their adventures. Giggling in between shutter clicks. They’re clearly the most at home when they are together! We had a little bit of a chilly day, but it was all the more reason to cuddle up. We had so much fun walking the streets (and fields!) of Blacksburg and looking forward to their wedding day. Thank goodness we only have to wait until April to do it all over again!

Hope you enjoy their chilly Blacksburg engagement session! (ps: i’m actually obsessed with winter light and just love how their session turned out! and i’ll never say no to shooting on top of parking garages ;])

So smiley and sweet!

LOVE! They have such wonderful smiles!

I spent a fair amount of time telling Natalie how GORGEOUS she is!

Loved this spot we found.

Natalie!