Trisha and Joe called me a couple of months ago to plan their Cope Environmental Center engagement photography shoot for the spring. Of course, in Indiana scheduling around spring weather can be a shot in the dark. But we got incredibly lucky on our spring day in the woods.

The two met at summer camp when they were 9 but didn’t really know each other until high school when Trisha gave Joe her “spare” ticket to the snowball dance to go as friends. Joe insisted on “paying her back” for the ticket with dinner & a movie. And THAT was the beginning of their story.

Cope Environmental Center Engagement Photography, couple hold hands and touch foreheads

The Proposal: (read this, it’s so sweet!)

As a nurse, Trisha knew months in advance she would have to work Christmas Eve. Wanting Joe to have some quality time off during the holidays, she encouraged him to fly home to his family in Allentown, PA. Trisha kissed Joe goodbye Christmas Eve morning and went to work. It was a heartbreaking shift. Trisha was upset to be away from family and Joe. Once her shift was over and she was back home, she received a call from Joe asking how work went and what she was going to do Christmas morning. They wished each other Merry Christmas, said their “I love you’s” and hung up. Sigh.

Then there was a knock on the door. It was Joe, and he was in Richmond all along! Trisha ran around the house jumping for joy like a new puppy greets its owner all because he stayed back for her. Once all the excitement settle and she stopped rambling about how happy she was, Joe explained the reasoning behind staying in Indiana–he didn’t want to spend any more holidays apart (Trisha was thinking this was so sweet–but absolutely no clue) then he got down on one knee. You know the rest. After that Trisha fell to the ground and sobbed. And more importantly, said yes!

It was Perfect

“It was intimate. It was private. It was beautiful and it was us. I couldn’t have asked for a better moment. We never talked about rings or anything. Joe said he chose the ring to resemble my mothers ring and my grandmothers ring. Two women with the most beautiful marriages,” said Trisha. “We cannot wait to devote ourselves to each other more and more every day. I also cannot wait to hold hands with him, every day, in prayer, on walks, and through all life’s beautiful moments.”

Cope Environmental Center Engagement Photography