Holly and Tanner met at church 3 years ago but didn’t really start talking until almost a year later. Holly believes Tanner was a sign from her mother who had passed away because he had all the qualities her mother could’ve dreamt of for her. Their relationship was long distance at first but within a short period of time, they knew they were meant to be and started dreaming of their future together.

Technically their first date together was right after their final exams in college (they had the same class together). After exams were out, they went to Buffalo Wild Wings and discovered they were perfect for each other.

Fast forward another year later on a Sunday Fall afternoon, Tanner had told Holly they had “brunch reservations” at a beautiful lakeside restaurant. He ended up taking her down a backroad they had explored when they first started dating. It lead to a gorgeous view overlooking all of Lake Charlevoix. The orange and red trees with the golden glow, Tanner knew it was the perfect setting for a proposal. He played ‘Invisible String’ by Taylor Swift as they drove to view the fall foliage. They found the perfect spot to take a photo of them including their puppy Ruger. As they were taking photos, Tanner started to play around with Ruger’s collar and told Holly to take a closer look at it. The tag had read, “Marry me?” and the rest was history!

A few months ago, Holly and I were planning the engagement session. She had mentioned she wanted a beachy location and since they live all the way up in Marquette and I’m in Fort Wayne, I decided to find the perfect spot in between…and that so happened to be a location on both of our bucket lists ⏤ Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore!

It was such a beautiful sunny day to photograph their love at a gorgeous spot in Michigan. We were all taken back by how stunning Sleeping Bear looked and this session is by far one of my favorites! These two rocked their session and I cannot wait for their big day at Castle Farms here in a few months!

 

I swear Holly reminds me of a disney princess, look how perfect her hair flows in this image!

When an accident turns into a cool photo…something about that background in focus gave me heart eyes!

Holly, girl you are stunnnnning and you’ve got such a contagious smile and laugh!

We ended our session at this beach which reminded Holly and I of Hawaii, we were so in love with the vibes (despite all the gnats lol).

The perfect way to end a beach engagement session is running into the ice cold water, these two were so spontaneous and I was living for it!

 

Are you wanting your own Sleeping Bear Dunes engagement session? I am down for a trip back up!

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