The first part of this post is guest blogged by my husband Brandon, who once was in a band with Mike.
April 1, 2012: Mike proposed to Nat, not knowing it was April Fools’ Day. (Had he never heard of it?) Knowing Mike is incapable of cruel and unusual punishment (that it was indeed not a gag), Natalie said yes! The rest, did not matter: she was his and he was hers.
I don’t think it was that Mike didn’t know [it was April Fools' Day], I think it was more like Mike was just so excited. He had been sending me text messages for the preceding months about his planning for the engagement. He is a very happy boy. And who can blame him? Nat is a catch! She’s definitely one of the funniest girls I’ve ever met, she’s certainly one of the smartest, and she’s sexy too! Mike’s a lucky boy.
So when we happened to be in town in early May, we were so glad they let us spend the day with them to take their engagement pictures. And we’re thankful too, as Natalie was set to board a plane to Europe that evening.
To start the seasonably hot day in May, Mike and Natalie met up with Tiff at Mac Alpine’s. It didn’t take much to convince the two to share a shake. We all enjoyed a few laughs and some good old fashioned fun.
Then, off to someone else’s wedding. What? Engagement pictures at a wedding? Yep, in a gutsy move, we ended up in another couples’ wedding at a local Phoenix favorite, Heritage Square. Technically, we were already there shooting while the wedding was being setup. But it does sound more like an adventure the other way.
Oh yeah, Jack, their amazing three-legged dog, was there too.
Lastly, we took some pictures at the most important location of all: home. This is where these two homebodies really thrive.
Okay, back to me (Tiffany) again.
I’m not sure why I asked Brandon if he wanted to guest blog, but it’s funny to see how different our writing styles are. Can you tell who majored in journalism and who didn’t?
It’s better that I didn’t blog because we were watching Game 2 of the Coyotes vs. Kings series that night and I likely would have written something terribly mean about Mike & Natalie due to my raging emotions towards the refs officiating the game. Hmmph. Hopefully tonight will be better.
I digress. Anyway, now that I’ve calmed down some, I want to add a couple of things:
- I could not imagine anyone more perfect for Mike. Like Brandon mentioned above, Natalie is incredibly beautiful, smart, creative, loving, kind and generous. The girl just graduated with her MBA.
- OH MY GOSH, she’s also insanely funny. How could I forget that?
- While asking Natalie about how the whole engagement went down, she laughed ever so sweetly and told me that Mike was so nervous that he put the ring on the wrong hand. I thought that was adorable and it reminded me of how nervous was when Brandon proposed to me.
- Speaking of the ring… isn’t it GORGEOUS? Mike designed it himself using diamonds from his grandma and mom.
- I need to think about how I’ll gently break the news about the engagement to Moose — he had a serious crush on Mike.
- LOVED Natalie’s nail polish color. Before I arrived in town, I sent Mike & Natalie an email with a few tips for a successful engagement session (blog post coming) and suggested a manicure if there was time. One of the shots that I’ll photograph for engagements is the ring shot and photos of the couple holding hands, etc., so having nicely manicured nails makes the image much more attractive and appealing. Plus, who doesn’t love a manicure?
- Mike & Natalie’s outfits were the perfect combo of color and pattern — not too busy and pops of color that draws your attention but doesn’t distract from the moment. They did an excellent job of going for “complement”, not “matching”.
- And JACK! What an awesome dog. I know they were nervous about including him in the shoot, but he’s part of the family now (in case you couldn’t tell that he wanted all the attention) and I’m happy he came along for the ride.
I know I sound like a broken record, but being asked to document such special & intimate moments in people’s lives is something I’m still wrapping my head around. It’s such an honor to capture these memories and it’s something that I’ll never take for granted.
Mike and Nat, congratulations from the bottom of our hearts. We are so happy for the two of you and can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future. Until then, we’re counting down the days to the wedding.
PS, Happy Birthday, Mike!
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