Engaged // Aaron & Taylor

It's not every day your best friends get engaged, and it's definitely not every day they ask YOU to capture their love and take their engagement photos. It is always such an honor when the opportunity arises! Aaron and Taylor have been my husband and I's great friends since college. Aaron was my husband's RA and became his good friend through it. Aaron was even in our wedding party as one of our groomsmen! They have such a special place in our hearts and so obviously, when they called to share the good news....we were SO EXCITED! Those are some awesome moments when your best friends call you to tell you they are engaged.

Aaron & Taylor have such a special relationship. They have been dating for over 3 years and are waiting to say "I love you" until they say "I Do." They are so committed to keeping Christ at the center of their relationship and I think that is such a testament to their commitment to each other! They have waited so long for this day to come and I can't wait to witness their special day.

Capturing their love while taking their engagement photos was a BLAST! They are so in love and make each other laugh so much (which you will see in the photos) that is was so much fun to watch!

God has big things in store for this couple and I am so thankful to call them friends. Thanks Aaron & Taylor for allowing me to capture your love and I hope you enjoy what you see! :)

Much love,

Brooke 

xoxo

Rock star hair Taylor!!! 

Favorite is on the right!!! AHH!





I seriously love how much they make each other laugh!!! :D

Taylor, your GORGEOUS!!!! 

Wedding Review: Flowers

Choosing the perfect florist.

 To me, flowers were a big deal for my wedding. They are in all your pictures and if you have the right combination, they will make your pictures pop that much more. My Florist was Karen Roa, from Aleen Floral  Designs. She was recommended to me from my Husbands cousin. She went to college with her and she lived in my hometown! When I met with her for the first time I knew I didn't need to look any farther. She was SOO organized, had tons of ideas, had two huge books of flowers and knew what flower made another flower "pop" and she was just simply.....TALENTED. She had so many ideas on places to find awesome center pieces, and also had many pieces of her own to allow me to use or rent such as the little wooden box the ring bearer walked down with! :)

Also, on the day of the wedding, my husband, Aaron, also told me after the wedding what a HUGE help she was to him and the groomsmen! She helped each guy put on their amazingly beautiful boutonnieres. This might not sound like much, but to Aaron, it showed that she wasn't just there to drop off the flowers, she was there to help create a beautiful day and wanted to do her part in making sure everything was perfect. It meant the world that she went the extra mile and more than what we ever expected or paid her to do. She cares so much about the memories and people and it shows in her work.

Lastly, to show how much she cared, when we told her that we would need to take the garden rose out of each bridesmaid bouquets due to budget constraints, she said no problem and our budget went down thankfully! However, on the day of my wedding, the bouquets arrived and all had garden roses in them! I never told you Karen, but that blew me away and blessed me more than you will ever know! You did that out of the goodness of your heart and as a wedding surprise to us, and it was the sweetest thing ever. Karen also said the flower girls would be carrying down paper flowers, however, she even gave my 3 flower girls real flowers too as a surprise! They were SO excited to be like the "Big girls" and these surprises made my wedding that much more special and really blessed us. We had no idea how much we would love our florist and how much the flowers would be something we would look back on and love so much. Choosing the right florist really does matter.

To sum it all up...here are three things all future brides should consider when considering their Florist:
        1. How organized is she? Does she have much experience?
        2. How creative is she? Can she take my ideas and run with it?
        3. What do others say about her? This will determine how seriously she takes making your day               special.

To contact Karen Roa of Aleen Floral Design, go to her website http://aleendesign.com/ !
She is amazing and you won't regret having her as your florist! She is based out of Williamsburg, VA but is available for travel. She started as my florist and left as a friend! Happy Wedding planning future brides! :) It is so much fun!

xoxo,

Brooke

(all photography credit goes to the incredible: The Mango Pack - http://www.themangopack.com/ )

  

Sneak Peek: Engaged // Caitlin & Dave

I felt so honored when Caitlin asked me to take her and Dave's engagement photos! Caitlin is one of my best and closest friends and is even a bridesmaid in my wedding (in a few weeks!) and I have the honor to be a bridesmaid in her and Dave's wedding in September! I felt so privileged to take their engagement photos and we had a blast while doing them. Enjoy a small, fun peek at their love! :) 

xo,

Brooke

Weekend Getaway: Destination ll Saint Louis

This past weekend was one of the best so far. The build up I've been anticipating for this trip was huge but I must say, the weekend was better than I had ever pictured it going. I flew in to my future home, Saint Louis, MO at 9:30am friday morning. My fiancé, Aaron, picked me up and we went straight to this adorable do-nut shop that sold donuts for .55 (yes, that is real life!) They were DELICIOUS and insanely cheap. It was a w e s o m e. haha.

I later got to see our apartment we will live in together after we get married. AH. I loved it. Can't wait to get my hands on decorating the place :) Poor aaron has been living in a bare wall apartment. ;) 

Friday afternoon I had an interview with a Chick-fil-A in Saint Louis where I am hopeful to transfer my position as Marketing Director with the company. I love the company and I would love to continue my passion for serving my community through this position. 

Saturday, we toured around Saint Louis and then went to a Cardinals Baseball game! The weather was perfect, they handed out free jerseys, and we pigged out on Stadium food, it really was perfect. haha.     I love the city of Saint Louis so much already and I can't wait to call it home in just 74 days, but who's counting? ;) For dinner, Aaron took me to Bailey's Range, which was the cutest, coolest restaurant ever and I have a feeling it will be one of our favorites. I don't say this lightly when I say, I've never had a better hamburger in my life. It was insanely delicious. haha. We finished the evening at Ted Drewes, which is a Saint Louis must-stop destination and is famous for the frozen custard. I recommend that too....Saint Louis really knows how to eat well. 

The best part about my trip was how I could picture Aaron and I's life there. I got to see our apartment for the first time and most importantly, attend the church Aaron has called home for the last year and I know I am going to grow so much there. It was an amazing church and I really really loved it. God is moving and doing big things there! Even though you might not live in Saint Louis, I still recommend listening to the sermons online for "The Journey" church. Definitely worth your time. I can't wait to call it my church home and to begin making Saint Louis my new home. God has blessed me immensely and I am so thankful. What do you have to look forward to? Comment below to start the conversation and if your ever in Saint Louis, let's meet! :)

xoxo, 

Brooke