When I was a lot younger—maybe in college, who knows—I remember someone telling me that most of us know the person we’ll marry by the time we’re 18. That didn’t really work out in my particular case, but there’s something so sweet about meeting a couple who knew each other as friends when they were kids. That’s how it worked for Susan and Charlie. They kinda/sorta knew each other through a mutual friend, but they didn’t really get to know one another until the wedding of some friends in 2012. At this point, Susan was leaving for Seattle in a month to start her residency, so the timing was a challenge from the start.
When Charlie decided to make a trip to Seattle to visit mutual friends, Susan and Charlie decided to meet up for dinner. They went to, and I’m quoting, “a Hawaiian/Asian/Taco fusion” joint, and as the ancient proverb tells us, tacos help dreams come true. As they got to know one another, Charlie realized how much he loved Susan’s ambition, confidence, and kindness, and Susan saw in Charlie a strong sense of family, a warm sensitivity, and a smile she could fall in love with. At any rate, something started to simmer between them, and these two long-time acquaintances started to develop into something more.
Charlie proposed during a trip to Maui he had scheduled, ostensibly, to celebrate Susan’s 30th birthday. He’d already recruited help in finding out Susan’s ring size and had picked out a winner. Now he just needed to find the perfect spot. This turned out to be more challenging than you might think. For his first attempt, Charlie planned a hike through forest and lava fields to a beautiful and secluded beach. But after Susan injured her knee and was attacked by insects, Plan A went in the scrap pile. So the next night, after a luau, Charlie got down on one knee and proposed during a walk on the beach. The rest is history.
For our shoot, we met at the UNCC Botanical Gardens. We spent most of our time in the Suzie Harwood Garden, and specifically in the Mellichamp Native Terrace, which is full of beautiful plants and flowers native to this area. Because Susan and Charlie are from here but now live in Washington, it was sweet to be able to photograph them in a place that really represented their roots, botanically speaking. The setting was perfect for this romantic portrait session.
