Real Engagement: Picture Perfect Jessica & Andy

Today I have one of the most gorgeous engagement shoots I have ever seen! Seriously it was unfair to the unselected photos. I really had THE hardest time selecting photos so pardon if this post is way too long. With these shots from the work of Vanessa Joy Photography, and with the absolutely sweet, sweet story from this beautiful couple, you are going to LOVE this!

Andy and I are in fact newlyweds - a little over two weeks now. The entire process of planning a wedding was an amazing experience, which I have to thank my groom for. He keeps me sane :). 

A little bit about Andy and myself - we've known each other since I was 14 and he was 19 (I'm now 23 and he is 28). Our parents grew up on the same island off the coast of Croatia in Europe, and one summer while vacationing with our families, we met. He always has been around my family - being the same age as my brother and sister, so we got to know each other very well over the years. He would joke to people (before we had started dating), that I would be his wife in the future. 

The time was never right - he was dating and I was dating - but in the summer of 07, we were both single and he had invited me over to hang out - which is how it all began.

As for our engagement, we had planned a trip to visit my parents in Florida for a weekend in March. The weekend of our trip, we were leaving from N.J. Andy was wearing the suede coat I had just bought him that Christmas and as we were loading everything he looked at me and asked if he should put his jacket in the overhead compartment. I looked at him as if he was nuts, didn’t he realize I spent a lot on this coat? So I told him no, that I was afraid it would get dirty up there –the ring had been sitting in the pocket of the jacket.

My father had planned for him, Andy, and my uncle to play golf, so my mother, aunt, and I decided to head to the beach. We came back from the beach and started to get ready for the night. Once the boys got back, Andy asked for us to go to the beach – he had just bought a new tripod stand and lenses for his SLR camera and he wanted to take some pictures as the sun set.

As we were driving to the beach, Andy had already started snapping away at different things. We got to the beach, which was beginning to get chilly, and Andy started to take pictures of the water, the sun, and trees. He started to set up his tripod, and I was starting to get really cold and was telling him to hurry it up. He turned to me and said he wanted to take a picture of us on the beach, so I stood in place as he set everything up. He put the timer on and ran into the picture. He told me to stay there; he wanted to make sure the picture was ok, before we left. He told me we both looked bad, to take one more. He ran back into place and just as the picture was taking, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the most gorgeous engagement ring I have ever seen. I was in complete shock.

The whole drive back, I just kept staring at the ring on my finger smiling. We got back to my parents and as I walked through the door, I saw my mom, and just started to hysterically cry, once I showed her my hand, she instantly started to cry with me. My dad in the background wiped a few tears from his eyes and had a grin on his face. He had known the entire time – because Andy had asked him during their golf game that day.

Like I said earlier, the year of planning had been amazing - and we just tied the knot on May 14th, so everything is still so exciting. :)

Thank you so much Jessica for sharing this story and Congrats on being a newlywed! So happy for you!

Find photos from Jessica and Andy's wedding on Vanessa Joy's Blog HERE! It is GORGEOUS! Thank you Vanessa for sharing your work! :-)

Photography by Vanessa Joy Photography submitted via Two Bright Lights