Elizabeth and Ricky met their freshman year of college, at Wake Forest University. On the night Ricky received a bid to his fraternity, one of his brothers introduced him to Elizabeth, and pretty much as soon as he met her, Ricky knew he was done, that he had found the person he wanted to be with. In short order, Elizabeth found out that Ricky had a fantastic sense of humor, especially when he was around his friends and family. She fell in love with his love of all things fun and funny, and Ricky fell in love with Elizabeth’s sharp mind and wit. In short, they’re a perfect compliment to one another.
This was the exact dynamic I observed when I met up with Elizabeth and Ricky for their engagement session on the campus of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. I’d met Elizabeth during our initial consult, but I’d never met Ricky in person. He was exactly as sweet, kind, and personable as I’d heard he would be. One of my favorite aspects of the shoot was just listening to Elizabeth and Ricky telling old college stories as we walked around the beautiful campus. They were so loving and naturally affectionate with one another, and I could tell that part of what made them work so well was how they filled in each other’s gaps.
Their engagement story is just as sweet as they are. One day, not long after they’d returned to DC from a trip to Spain, Ricky told Elizabeth he wanted to head out for a celebratory dinner—he’d just started a new job, and was about start med school. They decided to walk to a restaurant called 1789 in Georgetown, but since they were early for their reservation, they decided to check out Holy Trinity church. As they were walking around the exterior, Ricky suddenly dropped down on one knee and asked Elizabeth to marry him. After they had a delicious dinner, they headed to Ricky’s sister’s home in Georgetown to celebrate with family. Ricky had also secretly invited some of their close friends, so the party was on. The ring Ricky proposed with was a round cut diamond with two pear shaped side stones. They’d discussed what kind of ring Elizabeth might like, and Ricky had it made by his family jeweler, Colin Shah of Shah and Shah, in Washington, DC.
For our shoot, we started at Wait Chapel on the Hearn Plaza, then made our way back through the columns of Reynolda Hall. After that, we made sure to get some shots near the beautiful magnolias at Manchester Plaza, visited the famous Davis Field swings, and then finished in the gorgeous Reynolda Gardens. At one point toward the end of our time in the gardens, the sprinklers suddenly went off right where we were shooting. I was mortified, but Elizabeth and Ricky were completely cool about the whole thing, seemingly more concerned about my camera getting wet than their outfits. The quick misting was actually the perfect cooldown on such a humid summer night.
I loved getting to know these two better and having the chance to explore one of North Carolina’s loveliest campuses with two people who once called it home.
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