I was once told that everything is all about perspective. If you think it’s gonna be a nightmare, it usually ends up being one. If you think it’s going to be amazing, you’re in for a really fun time.
Adrienne likes gardens, so we decided to do this engagement session in the gardens behind the Lititz Historical Society. We have shot sessions there before, the owners are always so gracious and just happy that someone is enjoying their immaculately landscaped garden nestled in the heart of Lititz. Little did we know when we set up this engagement session, we would be sharing the space with an event… a live jazz concert.
I have to admit, the thought of trying to shoot around a bunch of people while children ran around, at first seemed like a pretty bad idea. But my husband said to me, “you know, this might be kinda cool. I mean, who gets a live soundtrack to their engagement shoot?” My whole perspective changed. I looked around and saw that there was still some open space for pictures, so I gave up on trying to find an alternate place right then and there. I was determined, this would be awesome…
A few minutes later Adrienne and Kevin showed up, and praise the Lord, they were a few minutes late. We introduced ourselves and told them we would be sharing the space with a jazz concert. They kinda looked at us for a second, and then smiled, and said, “oh cool!”
We started to walk back through to the gardens, and because they were a little late, at the exact moment the two of them passed through the arches into the beautiful back garden area, a saxophone and a string bass began playing, as if to invite them in to one of our most unique and definitely fun engagement sessions yet.
We found out a little into the shoot that they had a small “conversation with a purpose” about being late, but had decided in the car that they would put all of that behind them, and enjoy themselves. So while the concert could have been a very bad thing, since they had decided this would be a good night before hand, we even got the chance to take some pictures of the two of them dancing to some old jazz classics.
I can’t remember how many of those “conversations” I’ve had with my husband, or how much it can derail the rest of a day, but seeing how much joy Adrienne and Kevin decided to take into that night, even after one of those talks, is such an amazing reminder to me and my husband, to any married couple, that if you decide that it’ll be great, you’ll probably be right!
I would also like to thank my husband… When I first realized my plan for their perfect engagement session was, well, not so perfect, I started thinking horror stories of people in extremely bright colors milling around in the background of every one of my shots, but his first thought was of how unique this whole evening would be.
I’m so happy to have found someone who can shift my perspective. And I’m overjoyed that Adrienne and Kevin are able to shift each other’s perspectives in the same way.
Enjoy the unexpected! Expect it to be joyous!
You’ll probably be right!
We managed to get all these cute garden shots in pretty much one spot, and you’d never know from these pics that a whole concert was going on just to the side of us, right outside the camera frame (if I hadn’t already told you). But if you want to see what it looked like behind the scenes, here’s a shot that Matt snagged from a side angle so you can get a bit of context of what I was working around. :)
After doing a bunch of pictures back in the garden, we headed out along Main Street to get some fun “downtown” pictures. And if you couldn’t already tell, these two love dancing together, so when we asked them if they wanted to do a little dance along Main Street, without even debating it, they went right for it. They are just so cute together!
After that, we wandered down to Market at the Wilbur, one of my favorite spots in Lititz, and listened to some of Kevin’s funny stories while we did a few more pictures at the café and along the old Wilbur building.
It was a perfect evening for Kevin and Adrienne’s engagement session, and it was such a joy to hang out and get to know this sweet couple. I can’t wait to help them celebrate their big day in just a couple months!