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January 13, 2017

FLASHBACK 2016 | COUPLES & ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS

Alright, 2016, you were insane… 2017 looks insaner. (I just made that up… go with me). I photographed so many amazing couples whose weddings I get to shoot this year! But aside from photographing weddings, I love getting to meet up with my couples prior to the wedding day for their engagement session! However, I did mention in the title that this is COUPLES and engagements… because I did also photograph some couples who are not yet engaged. Basically – I like these casual sessions where we get to hangout, take photos, laugh a lot, and just get to know each other.

Today’s Flashback 2016 post features some of my favorite photos from every one of those sessions this year! (Click on their names to see their full blog post!)

I flew to Texas in the beginning of the year to capture Andrew & Rainey‘s engagement session! Since I had never shot in Houston before, I did a lot of research on Instagram and Google Maps to find location spots!romantic coffee shop downtown houston engagement session - Brett Denfeld Photographydiscovery green houston engagement session Brett Denfeld Photographydiscovery green houston engagement session Brett Denfeld Photography

Meg & Zach – Old Town Alexandria is one of my favorite spots to shoot! I’m excited to shoot their wedding in NC in September!romantic old town alexandria virginia engagement session - Brett Denfeld Photographyromantic old town alexandria virginia engagement session - Brett Denfeld PhotographyMegZach-76 I loved photographing Lora & Kyle‘s engagement session in Richmond!
downtown richmond monument avenue engagement session Brett Denfeld PhotographyLora-Kyle-136Are we in Italy or what? Love this door & the peeling paint!downtown richmond monument avenue engagement session Brett Denfeld PhotographyAshley & Andrew drove all the way from North Carolina to take their photos in Middleburg! They even brought their dog! Adorable!rustic middleburg virginia engagment session- Brett Denfeld Photographyrustic middleburg virginia engagment session- Brett Denfeld PhotographyvAshley-Andrew-136_WEB

Jessica & Matt didn’t let a little rain ruin their engagement session at Meadowlark Botanical Garden! In fact, the rain just made the green POP even more! Can’t wait for their wedding coming up in July!spring Meadowlark Botanical Gardens Virginia Engagement Session Brett Denfeld Photographyspring Meadowlark Botanical Gardens Virginia Engagement Session Brett Denfeld Photographyspring Meadowlark Botanical Gardens Virginia Engagement Session Brett Denfeld Photography

I loved the colors of Julia & Spiro‘s engagement session at Meridian Hill Park in D.C. and we basically had the place to ourselves!
JuliaSpiro-Engagement-106_WEBJuliaSpiro-Engagement-67_WEBJuliaSpiro-Engagement-184_WEBmeridian hill park engagement session Brett-Denfeld-Photography

Morgan & Steve chose Old Town Alexandria because that’s where Steve proposed!! We even took some photos on the bench where he popped the big question!

Morgan-Steve-27_WEBI loved the boxwood topiaries in front of this house SO MUCH – and the owner was standing out front and invited us into her back garden… SO cool! Morgan & Steve will make an appearance on the blog in May when they get married!Morgan-Steve-29_WEBAlso – how fun is this garage door of the Torpedo Factory?!old-town-alexandria-engagement-session-Brett-Denfeld-Photographyold-town-alexandria-engagement-session-Brett-Denfeld-Photography

OH EM GEE — Goodstone Inn in Middleburg was a GORGEOUS spot for Andreas & Alli‘s engagement session! They decided to make a date out of it and booked a room on the property and had dinner reservations afterwards! Can’t wait to shoot their wedding at Whitehall in May!Alli-Andreas-Engaged-92_WEBAlli-Andreas-Engaged-217_WEBromantic goodstone inn middleburg engagement sessionAlli-Andreas-Engaged-77_WEB

Back at Meadowlark for Christine & Jeff‘s engagement session! Jeff works there as a gardener so he knew EVERYTHING about the park and all of the plants!Christine-Jeff-Engaged-64_WEBChristine-Jeff-Engaged-102_WEBChristine has such a bubbly personality!! SO cute!Christine-Jeff-Engaged-79_WEB
Christine-Jeff-Engaged-153_WEBI’ve wandered around the streets of Georgetown so many times but I had never officially shot there! So I was pretty excited when Carolyn & Matt suggested it for their engagement session!Carolyn-Matt-Engaged-17Carolyn-Matt-Engaged-105Carolyn-Matt-Engaged-1212 kool 4 u… hahaCarolyn-Matt-Engaged-148Towards the end of May I traveled to the Outer Banks to shoot my cousin’s engagement session at the Whalehead Club & the oceanfront by their vacation home in Duck! I had so much fun with Rachel & Dex! You’ll see them again in June!Rachel-Dex-OBX-32_WEBRachel-Dex-OBX-122_WEBRachel-Dex-OBX-181_WEB

Megan is also my cousin, one of Rachel’s younger sisters! I snapped a few of Megan and her boyfriend, Ryan, on the beach! The light was perfecttttt! Someone take me to the beach for a session SOON!

Megan-Ryan-31Megan-Ryan-58I LOVE this one!!Megan-Ryan-70Megan-Ryan-77

After a raincheck, I met Marta & Jason in Old Town Alexandria for their engagement session! I think I’m going to go ahead and say that Old Town Alexandria was one of my top engagement session locations for the year! Marta-Jason-24_WEBMarta-Jason-91_WEBMarta-Jason-85_WEBMarta-Jason-27_WEB

Over 4th of July weekend, I had the honor of photographing a proposal in Purcellville for Chad and Lourdes! She said YES!CL-Proposal-9_WEBCL-Proposal-42_WEBHaley & Robbie‘s engagement session took place at Haley’s grandparents home in Great Falls, VA. Haley spent a lot of time there and wanted to honor their memory before the house was sold. If you remember her wedding, she had so many sweet family details in her day!HaleyRobbie-49_WEBWe recreated some photos that Haley’s parents had taken in her Grandfather’s library!HaleyRobbie-8_WEBHaleyRobbie-81_WEBHaleyRobbie-169_WEBLeslie & Kevin came all the way up from Florida for their engagement session at Stone Tower Winery! We had such a blast taking photos all around the gorgeous property! Can’t wait to hang out with them again at their wedding in July!
LK-engaged-7LK-engaged-90LK-engaged-158LK-engaged-177These doctors came all the way over from Seattle and brought the rain to Old Town Alexandria for their engagement session! Naturally I asked them if they watched Grey’s Anatomy… I think the said no. haha! But Meredith & Mike they told me if I wanted to watch an accurate medical show that I need to watch Scrubs… I still haven’t started but I promise I will watch some episodes before their wedding in August!meredithmike-engaged-15_webmeredithmike-engaged-63_webOld Town Alexandria Engagement Session Brett Denfeld Photographymeredithmike-engaged-54_webI loved Emilie & Brian‘s suggestion of the Aldie Mill for their engagement session!! Emilie is a friend from college and I can remember the day she told me she met Brian at a concert AND NOW they’re getting married! I can’t wait for their wedding in Richmond later this Fall!historic aldie mill engagement photos brett denfeld photographyhistoric aldie mill engagement photos brett denfeld photographyhistoric aldie mill engagement photos brett denfeld photographyWe ended their session in a patch of wildflowers — dreamy!
sunset wildflowers virginia wedding photographer brett denfeld photography

I FINALLY made it to Charleston – a place that has been on my bucket list for years! I was in town attending a wedding for one of my Hollins sisters and also got to photograph some newly engaged friends while we were in town! So fun!! I can’t wait to go back to Charleston again!

Erika & Luke got engaged this past October and I loved getting to photography them next to Rainbow Row!
charleston rainbow row engagement photographercharleston rainbow row engagement photographercharleston rainbow row engagement photographercharleston-engagement-wedding-photographer-38My dear friend, Emma, and her fiancé Nick! I snagged a few of them while we were at Magnolia Plantation for the wedding… check out that Spanish moss in the sunlight! AH!
Charleston magnolia plantation wedding photographerCharleston magnolia plantation wedding photographerand had the chance to wander around part of Charleston with them the next day! LOVE the pink & palms!
charleston-magnolia-plantation-engagement-wedding-photographer-13charleston engagement wedding photographerI had researched Charleston and found Longitude Lane and was DYING to shoot there! Alyssa & Evan’s couple’s session made my dream come true! (Their full session will be coming to the blog later!)

charleston-rainbow row-couples-session-photographer-23charleston-rainbow row-couples-session-photographer-46charleston-rainbow row-couples-session-photographer-27

Callie & John‘s engagement session started at the Aldie Mill then Middleburg then back to my favorite sunset spot in Aldie! Can’t wait for their wedding in MARCH! First one of the year!
middleburg virginia fall engagement sessionmiddleburg-virginia-engagement-photographer-2_webmiddleburg virginia fall engagement sessionmiddleburg-virginia-engagement-photographer-78_web

Jonothan & Katie‘s Canal Walk engagement session in Richmond was too KOOL (find that in the picture!) I loved exploring a new part of Richmond then ending our session at sunset at Belle Isle – one of my favorite summer spots!canal-walk-belle-isle-richmond-engagement-10canal walk belle isle richmond engagement sessioncanal walk belle isle richmond engagement session
canal walk belle isle richmond engagement session

I drove 2.5 hours down to Bold Rock Cidery one Sunday morning to photograph one of my best friends proposals! Derica proposed to my Hollins sister, Kyra among some of their friends! I was so nervous! (I know I shouldn’t be nervous – but I was scared of being seen!) bold-rock-cider-charlottesville-proposal-14bold-rock-cider-charlottesville-proposal-55bold-rock-cider-charlottesville-proposal-128

Danni & Jon included Jon’s kids into their engagement session! Everyone was a good sport because it was FREEZING cold outside!! I’ll be blogging their full session next week! I love how they incorporated their wedding colors into their session! Can’t wait for their Tides Inn wedding later this year!Taglieri-2Taglieri-51
Taglieri-38Still with me? The last engagement session of the year was Rachel & Adam’s Old Town Alexandria engagement session (I’m behind on blogging… their engagement session is also coming next week! Don’t kill me – the holidays got me all behind!)

RachelAdam-Engaged-22RachelAdam-Engaged-178RachelAdam-Engaged-156RachelAdam-Engaged-79OMG YOU GUYS — THIS POST IS DONE! If you made it to the end, I congratulate you and THANK you for continuing on because this was a very long post!!! Some of these couples had their weddings last year and some of them have their wedding this year and SOME haven’t gotten engaged yet. Yet all of them were SO fun to shoot! Can’t wait for another amazing year!

Take a look at the other Flashback 2016 post, HERE! More to come next week!

xoxo bd