Rachel and David are high school sweethearts getting married this summer. I met them in Central Park for a super-fun picnic engagement session.
“David and I met in eighth grade,” Rachel shares, “when we were put on the same school bus route. We became friends over the year and he finally admitted to liking me on the day we graduated eighth grade. It took awhile for our relationship to get off the ground – in fact, my friends in high school once stayed up until two in the morning on the phone with him planning how he was going to ask me out. We stayed together through high school and college; each of us feels like the other one helped us grow up. I certainly wouldn’t be who I am today without the years of talking to David about books and movies and school and life in general.”
David continues, “We began dating in earnest in 10th grade going to Teaneck’s pizza stores, the bowling alley, and parks. Although we went to different schools, my high school years were unquestionably shaped by my relationship with Rachel. The hour-long phone calls we shared evolved from being a weekly habit in sophomore year to a daily ritual by the time we graduated.”
David talks about how much they love the city, “Last summer, Rachel and I made it our mission to visit as many NYC cultural spots as we could. Within a span of weeks, we watched Raiders of the Lost Ark in Bryant Park, danced the salsa on the Highline, boarded a boat in the South Street Seaport and made a pilgrimage to hipsterdom at the Brooklyn Flea.
We love living in New York City, and it felt particularly appropriate to take engagement pictures in Central Park where we have picnicked many times.”
Rachel shares the story of their proposal, “David proposed at a park in our hometown of Teaneck, NJ, where we used to hang out. There’s a bench that overlooks a river that we always called our bench, and in November David asked me if I wanted to go back there with him because we hadn’t been there in awhile. There was a bouquet of roses on our bench and and that’s where he asked me to marry him! Obviously, I said yes.”
When Rachel asked me about having their engagement portraits taken I have to admit I got a little nervous! As Orthodox Jews, throughout their relationship they have kept the tradition of shomer negiah which translates to “guarding from touch.”
Rachel explains, “This means that many Orthodox Jews will not touch members of the opposite gender unless they are family. For us, this means waiting until the wedding before we touch the way most couples do.”
In order to still have beautiful intimate moments, without touching each other, I recommended bringing some special items that they could hold. Rachel did such an amazing job of creating a banner, monogram letters, and setting up a whole picnic to make their session extra special!
They are getting married July 22 in New Rochelle. Happy Engagement Rachel and David!
