Andrea & Jacob Engagement Session Valley Forge PA

Engagement Session Valley Forge PA

I had the honor and privilege to capture one of my best friends’ engagement sessions and her fiance last week in Valley Forge, PA. Andrea and Jacob’s Engagement Session Valley Forge PA was the most involved engagement session I have done to date, but that is because Andrea and Jacob, more or less Andrea, brought a ton of props with them. Now I’m not just talking signs and champagne. They had blankets, candles, snacks, champagne, pillows, baskets, and much more.

I cannot begin to fathom what we were able to accomplish. Arianna came with us to take the reigns on creativity, and I am so glad that she was there. While we were shooting in the wheat field, Arianna was setting up both scenes we were going to photograph.

They brought 3 outfits, and she planned each of them perfectly to coordinate with all three scenes we set up. If you looked at where we photographed, you could never tell that we were on the side of the road near a parking lot.

The setting was like something out of a magazine, more or less like a style session. The color schemes all matched, and Andrea told me that she basically brought her entire living room to the session. Everyone kept stopping to see what we were doing, which was kind of cool because we had our own little audience. Engagement Session Valley Forge PA

It was a very chill and laid-back session but, at the same time, exquisite and beautiful. The teamwork we had made my job pretty easy for this one. Andrea knew what poses she wanted to do with Jacob, Arianna focused on staging the entire session, so I focused on the technical aspects of the actual photographs. Engagement Session Valley Forge PA

My favorite reaction to the session was when Andrea popped the champagne bottle open. Her reaction was priceless because she didn’t expect to pop and pour out as it did. They couldn’t stop laughing the entire time after that.

These two definitely went all out on the food too. They had meats and cheeses, grapes, crackers, graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate, and champagne. I mean, they seriously came prepared.

I met Andrea a few years back when we both worked for the same company. She was a senior photographer, and I was just a newbie at the job! What is funny is that we didn’t become best friends until after I left the job. We always chatted while I was there, but it wasn’t until I found out she wanted to do wedding photography on her own that we became closer as friends and as partners. She is my go-to and right-hand woman on a wedding day.

It wasn’t until about a year or so ago that I met Jacob for the first time. We had talked about them getting engaged, and she would tell me how much in love she was with him, so it was only a matter of time before Jacob asked her to marry him.

They met on Bumble and had their first date at the Tippler NYC, a bar in Downtown Manhattan in Chelsea Market. They met up for drinks and talked for hours. They lost track of time and almost missed the last train home. Allegedly Andrea kissed Jacob first, and she told me that the rest is history from there. Engagement Session Valley Forge PA

To me, I’d say this is a story of “love at first sight.” Sometimes meeting people online is the best form of dating because you have no pre-notions as a person, and you get to know that for who they really are, not what other people make them out to be. I always say online dating seems to be the best form of dating for the day and age we live in. Engagement Session Valley Forge PA

They went on many dates after that, and over time, they fell deeply in love with each other. Andrea said she loves Jacob’s serving heart, and he fell for her compassion and understanding personality.

Now the proposal was one of the most epic proposals I have seen in a while. Andrea and Jacob spent about 3 weeks in Australia, Jacob’s home country. While they were there, Jacob and Andrea kayaked over to a private beach in Sydney, AU. He had a beautiful picnic set up, and in the sand was written a message, which we all know said, “Will You Marry Me?” and as Andrea put it ‘The rest is history.”

Jacob proposed on January 28, 2020, on Manly Beach in Sydney, Australia.

They will be tying the knot in September 2021 at Historic Shady Lane. I am so honored to have captured their love from behind my camera, and I am so excited about the wedding. I will be attending their wedding. Congratulations to the future, Mr. and Mrs. Malakoff.

Engagement Session Valley Forge PA