Sunrise engagement sessions are super romantic, yes? There’s something about those first quiet moments spent watching the sun come up together. This sunrise shoot was even more intimate than most given the fact that photog Ryan Bernal is a close friend of the couple and was even there to witness Austin’s proposal to Amanda. How special is that? Let’s see a few of the natural and candid photos, and then hear all about that sweet proposal story below. (It involves a Goldendoodle named Desmond… enough said!)
This bride-to-be has got the cutest style… We’re really digging the polka dots.
From the bride-to-be… Austin and I have known each other for five years. Our story is one that stems from a friendship that blossomed into a beautiful love story. We had been dating for a little over a year, when on one Wednesday night in December, Austin asked me to go to dinner at a new restaurant that had just opened in Nashville called Rolf and Daughters. Nothing out of the usual, he picked me up, we talked, ate yummy food, finished and then we headed home to watch our favorite show at the time, Parenthood—or so I thought. When we arrived to his house, Desmond, his oh-so-sweet Goldendoodle, did not greet us at the door like he normally does. I immediately went straight back to Austin’s room where I assumed Desmond would be laying on Austin’s bed. I was wrong. I opened his bedroom door, and sitting on the floor perfectly was Desmond, wearing a sign that read, “Will you marry my dad?” I turned around and Austin was on one knee. Of course I immediately answered YES, and a few moments later all of our close friends were outside with sparklers and treats. It was perfect. One of those close friends was Ryan Bernal, a wonderful friend of ours who is an amazing photographer as well. We were thrilled that he agreed to shoot our engagement. We wanted something simple and sweet; a shoot that simply captured real moments that we had while interacting with one another. Ryan did just that. We were thrilled with our engagement photos and couldn’t have imagined them any other way!
