Jordan and Colton’s playful, tender, loving engagement session
Hello, friends! I’m really excited to introduce you to Jordan and Colton today and to share some of their engagement photos.
A little fun fact to start off: I have known Colton nearly his whole life! We are longtime family friends -- my mom is a daycare provider and preschool teacher, and Colton’s family is one of the very first families she worked with back when I was about two years old and he was a baby.
I grew up playing in the backyard playing with Colton and his siblings, and our families have remained close over the years. It’s been so fun to watch his relationship with Jordan develop from afar, and it was one of the most exciting emails I’ve ever received when they reached out to talk about working together for their wedding!
It’s been so fun to talk with Jordan and Colton about their wedding plans and get to know them as a couple! They met at a college bar, each of them there with separate groups of friends. Jordan is a crisis practitioner, a counselor who works with people in crisis, and Colton is a personal trainer. Both of them are such thoughtful and intentional people who really care about the people in their lives, at their jobs, and in their communities. They are the kind of people who you feel honored to know -- they’re incredibly special!
Planning Jordan and Colton’s engagement session
Jordan and Colton will be getting married in November 2021 and were really looking forward to doing an engagement session. They knew that they wanted engagement photos to use for their save-the-dates as well as to commemorate this chapter in their lives together, and it was so fun to talk about their ideas for these pictures.
Jordan and Colton wanted their engagement pictures to capture a mix of happy, joyful energy as well as romantic, tender moments. I also wanted to capture how much fun they have together, the ease of their relationship, and how much happiness and adventure they find in their lives together.
Jordan and Colton’s engagement session
We went to two totally different locations for their engagement session! Jordan and Colton wanted the first part of their session to be out in nature, so they chose the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. The Arboretum is huge -- it’s such a fun setting for engagement sessions because there’s a big variety of landscapes!
At the Arboretum, a three-mile driving path circles around the circumference of the park. We drove along the path and paused a few times to get pictures in different settings!
For the first few pictures, we stopped at a really pretty spot along a path with a backdrop full of snowy trees. There was a little bit of sun coming in from behind Jordan and Colton, which gave these pictures a warm, cozy feel.
The next setting that we found was a big, open field with trees in the background -- it was such an expansive landscape! The snow blanketed the field in a really pretty way. Jordan and Colton had brought along a plaid blanket to snuggle into, which gave these pictures a sweet, snuggly energy.
The final spot we took photographs in was a grove of pine trees. We walked into the grove (it felt a little like we were in a giant tree fort!) until we found a spot where the sun was shining through. Jordan and Colton spread out their blanket and settled in underneath the pines. The rich green of the trees brought a really beautiful balance to the bright white snow in these photos!
Afterwards, we headed to our second location: Centennial Lakes Park! Jordan and Colton had the idea to take some photos of them ice skating together, an activity that they’ve really enjoyed doing together. They also loved the idea of balancing photos of them in nature with photos of them doing a fun winter activity together -- the portraits from the Arboretum nature feel a little more tender and sweet, whereas the ice skating photos feel really playful and fun!
Centennial Lakes Park transforms into a giant ice skating rink in the winter, so Jordan and Colton put on their skates while I shuffled around on the ice with my camera (don’t worry, I stuck to my boots!). It felt like I was just capturing them on a normal date or a weekend afternoon adventure. They were having a blast, and it was so fun to capture with my camera!
Jordan and Colton, it has been such a treat to spend time with you! I loved the mix of locations you chose for your engagement session -- between the two spots, it felt like we were really able to capture both the fun, happy, adventurous side of your relationship as well as the sweet, tender, loving side! Thank you so much for trusting me with taking your engagement photos, I loved spending the day together and I can’t wait to photograph your wedding this fall!