Courtney and Erik just recently moved to Colorado. We had a wonderful time walking around Mt Falcon and celebrating their engagement.
Courtney shares, “Erik and I first met while we were attending college at West Virginia University. Erik and my older brother Ryan were fast friends, and luckily that led to Erik and I having a great friendship as well. The three of us all shared a love for online computer games and spent countless hours together online during our college years. Even after college when we all went our separate directions to start our post-college lives, we stayed connected.
Erik and I both admit to having short lived crushes on each other during our college years together, but timing was never in our favor. It wasn’t until nearly 10 years after we first met that Erik made a move, and our time had finally come. One of Erik’s favorite bands, Brand New, was having a concert in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and I happened to be living in Milwaukee at the time, so he took the opportunity for us to meet up. That concert ended up being our first date of many more to come, and when my career led me to Charlotte, North Carolina, Erik moved with me so that we could end our long-distance dating and be together again.
Erik proposed to me over Memorial Day weekend in 2019. He planned an amazing trip to Sausalito, California just outside of San Francisco. The morning after we arrived, Erik was up bright and early at 6am ready to start the day. This should have been my first clue something was going on because neither of us would ever choose to wake up that early on a weekend. Turns out his phone didn’t update from EST to PST, so he thought it was already 9am and he had big plans for the day. Erik and I got breakfast at a local diner overlooking the bay and then headed up to the Redwood Forest for a mid-morning hike. On our hike, Erik found a quiet area overlooking the park and after getting down on one knee, he asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes. We spent the rest of the weekend celebrating. I still can’t help but smile thinking back on that day one year ago.”
Courtney continues, “We were all set to be married at a neighborhood yacht club on Lake Norman in North Carolina on March 21, 2020 when covid-19 changed the world around us in a matter of 24 hours. It was the Friday before our wedding weekend when the U.S. officially closed the borders to tourists, and governors leapt into action implementing various restrictions on public gatherings. That weekend, with the health and safety of our family and friends in mind, we made the decision to post-pone our wedding to September of this year. We truly hope our friends and family will be able to gather and celebrate our marriage in September, but even if it ends up being a bit smaller than we had planned, it will be perfect.
My career brought us to Colorado at the very beginning of March 2020, and even though we couldn’t get married at the end of March as originally planned, I wanted to do something special to celebrate us and our new life in Colorado. I am so glad I found Jessica to shoot our engagement session re-take! Being new to the area, trying to pick a location for a photo shoot was a bit overwhelming, but Jessica suggested so many beautiful locations to choose from. I was drawn towards Mt. Falcon Park because it reminded me of our proposal weekend and the hike where it all began. With our one-year engagement anniversary right around the corner, it was the perfect setting to bring back all those memories of a truly joyous time in our lives.
Courtney and Erik were so natural in front of the camera and you could tell they were so happy together.
Courtney adds, “My favorite moments from our photo session were when our poses left us laughing until we cried. Jessica assured us our laughing fits would make for the best pictures, and from our sneak peak I’d say she was right. Erik and I left the session feeling so light hearted and excited for wedding day to finally come.”
Happy engagement Courtney and Erik!
