Kristen + David | Engagement | Midland, MI

You know the feeling you get when you meet someone for the first time and just think, "Yep, we're gonna be friends?" What about the feeling when you look at the time and wonder, "How did so much time go by so quickly?" If you answered "Yes" to either of those, then you know exactly how we felt when we got off of our hour and a long Zoom call with Kristen and David! From there on, we knew that there was something special about these two, but Kristen and David's engagement shoot finally confirmed it for us: yep, these two are pretty awesome people!

When we found out that their wedding was going to be in the town of Midland, Michigan at the beautiful Dow Gardens, we were so excited to go and capture some photos in their hometown! We loved the 3 hour road trip exploring back roads we'd never traveled on, driving past the many many large windmills...and of course, Josh got his much needed travel-Starbucks-drink. Upon arriving in Midland, Kristen and David met us to give us a tour of the Dow Gardens and show us where their ceremony would take place. How often do you get a tour of the wedding venue WITH your bride and groom?! We were thrilled! The Dow Gardens is absolutely stunning and we CANNOT wait to capture their many wedding photos amidst all it's gorgeous scenery next year!

Meet the "Tridge".

When we arrived in Midland, Kristen and David told us about "The Tridge". We found out that this 3 way directional bridge was located in the heart of downtown Midland. After parting ways so Kristen and David could go get ready, we scouted out a couple parks before deciding that we needed check this place out. OH WOW. Not only did it have a gorgeous area of trees for stunning sunlight background photos, but also The Tridge was amazing in and of itself. Needless to say, this was probably one of our favorite photo locations of the evening! Kristen and David, if you could convince The Tridge and it's surrounding areas to uproot and move 3 hours closer to us, that would be AMAZING! ;)

We just have to give some honorable mentions from the evening!

1) Sage's amazing ability to hold steady with the engagement ring on her nose. (No, she didn't eat it.)

2) How fun was this popping champagne moment? Even though David's accidentally started exploding before the given "Go!", Kristen quickly adapted and followed suit! Well done!

Meet Sage.

No, we don't normally do "dog introductions" on the blog...but when Andrea has found her future dog breed and is absolutely in love...you get an official introduction. (And if you know anything about Andrea, she's not super into dogs as she isn't used to them. But that's all about to change one day.)

Sage is a mini golden retriever and is the love of Kristen and David. She was a trooper through all the photos and extremely chill and relaxed as could be. When it was an all "Kristen and David" moment, she and Josh got to hang out together. (This was Andrea's ploy to convince Josh further...even though he doesn't really need convincing.) Kristen and David, keep your phones handy, because when we are finally ready for our own dog, we will be calling you to ask all your tips and tricks!

Do you want the secret for natural laughter in your photos? Convince Sage to growl as soon as Kristen and David start to kiss! We may have all been dying of laughter - in front of and behind the cameras!

Kristen and David, we know we've said this to you so many times, but you ROCKED your session and are going to be 100% pros come time for your wedding photos! Thanks for being so kind in giving us a tour of your wedding venue grounds, your town, and for making the evening so fun. We look forward to your wedding day with great anticipation and are so excited for you two to start the amazing journey called "marriage"!

All photos are property of Josh and Andrea Photography, LLC.