INTIMATE SPRING SUNSET ENGAGEMENT

Sep 12

Manders + Austin are getting married in just a few short weeks and I thought, hey it's the perfect time to share more photos from their engagement session!

Manders and I wanted an epic, nature setting for their engagement BUT it was also super important to include the couples 3 dogs (omg, I can't WAIT to see them decked out for the wedding!). So we settled on Wildcat Den State Park in Muscatine, Iowa--the perfect meeting place between Burlington and the Quad Cities for that natural, non-manicured just pure nature doing it's thing vibe.

As much as I love couple's bringing their dogs to their sessions, I always recommend having a strategy! I recommend either bringing someone with you to help out or be comfortable leaving them in the car--otherwise you'll end up being worried or stressed about your fur babes instead of focusing on your human one. So I always like to start with "family" photos when pets are involved and then move on to the heart of an engagement session--i.e., exploring and connecting with your boo! The day we chose, can't lie, it was weird--kind of cold, kind of not. Some snow and ice but mostly not. That's spring in the Midwest, baby! But Manders and Austin have the most amazing chemistry together and it was easy to simply place them in lighting I liked and just let them emote--yes, yes, I am spoiled. Once we had climbed some hills, slipped in streams (me, this was me) and saw some caverns, it was time for sunset. One perk about being in the middle of nowhere (let's be real, that's most of Iowa, right?) is that there are so many wide open spaces! We quickly changed, popped out of the park and just used a bare field for some more active, romantic sunset vibe photos.

I simply love the trust Austin + Manders showed me in their engagement session and posting this all now gives me so much MORE excitement for their wedding coming up soon.