Pittsburgh Engagement | Laura + Seth

It was a surprisingly chilly day in October, but you would never know it by Laura and Seth's cozy engagement session. North Park was the perfect backdrop for their outdoor photo shoot.

How did the two of you meet? We met so many years ago in college through a friend, but reconnected in 2011, online actually, and starting messaging and emailing back and forth. At that point we were both single and looking for a relationship, but I was planning on going to PA school starting that summer. We started dating in February 2011. I accepted a spot at Stony Brook University PA program on Long Island, NY, and 4 months later I left for school. He supported me from my initial decision to go away to school, throughout 2 of the hardest years of my life as I studied night and day- 7.5 hours away from him. We continued talking every day, emailing each other weekly (we both loved getting these emails), even counting down sleeps to see each other! Long story short- I graduated, moved back to Pittsburgh to work and be with him (Laura). 

We met years ago, but we reconnected in 2011 and exchanged email addresses first. After sending a few emails back and forth and seeing that there was potential, I finally got Laura’s phone number and we set up a first date. Laura left for school four months into us dating, and was away in New York for two years.  Laura’s schooling left her with a very crazy, hectic schedule that was always changing. Throughout her schooling, we maintained our email communication with each other, in order to stay in touch with each other (Seth).

Tell me about the proposal! He proposed Wednesday November 26th, 2014- Thanksgiving Eve. I literally just got back from a hot yoga class and was sweaty but starved so quickly changed and didn't shower because I thought we were just going to a local sports bar for dinner. After I was ready,  I then decided it was a good time to look up the map for the turkey trot 5 mile race the next morning.. sitting on the couch.. showing him where to drop me off.. looking at the course.. All the while he apparently had the ring in his pocket! I stood up to put on my shoes by the door of our apartment. He then pulled me close for a hug and proceeded to tell me how thankful he was for me and happy I make him.. he got down on one knee  and proposed!!! I was surprised and didn't think it was real at first, I was in a daze. I of course said yes. We then went to a fancier dinner at Ditkas! (It was so funny I went to yoga class and told the instructors about it- they said what a ideal proposal because that is totally me and what I do, nothing out if the ordinary, but absolutely perfect!) (Laura). 

Well, I actually had the ring for 9 months prior to popping the question. I really wanted to come up with some big, elaborate proposal idea that would blow Laura away. I spoke with friends and family for months, trying to come up with some sort of clever idea. Eventually, I got tired of trying to come up with ideas and felt like doing something like that wasn’t quite me. So on Thanksgiving Eve 2014, Laura had a tough day at work and she called me during the middle of the day and told me about how upset she was. It was then that I decided that I would pop the question that night whenever she got home. I practiced what I would say and I tied it in with some things she had said earlier in the day whenever she was upset about how her work was going. Because Thanksgiving was the next day, I also figured that doing it that night would give us the opportunity to see/tell all of our family in person and surprise them as well.

At first, I wanted to go out for a nice dinner and do it (since it was Thanksgiving Eve). Laura ended up going to a yoga class after work, and didn’t come home until late. This just added to my nervousness as time ticked by. Once she came home, I kept trying to coax her into going somewhere nice for a nice dinner. I wanted her to get dressed up and be ready because I knew she would want to take pictures and everything once I proposed. However, that didn’t go as planned. She came home, tired and exhausted from work and going to yoga, and all she wanted to do was just go to a nearby bar in her yoga clothes and get something quick. I tried and begged her to go somewhere nicer, but she wasn’t having it. So I decided to get down on one knee in the living room of our apartment and ask her right then. I was extremely nervous, but I recited everything I had practiced in my head all day perfectly. Once she finally said yes, she realized why I was acting funny and was begging her to go out (Seth).

Seth enjoys fishing, so he brought along his supplies. It was such a fun way to incorporate their personalities into the session!

What are you most looking forward to on your wedding day? As for the wedding, I'm looking forward to bringing our family and friends together. I can't wait for him to see me in my dress ️ and marry the love of my life. Also can't wait for the party  our first dance, and dancing the night away surrounded by the most important people in our lives (Laura)! Laura will probably tell you that I’m just looking forward to it all being over (which may be partially true)… But I am looking forward to seeing Laura in her dress and spending such an important day in both of our lives together. I’m also looking forward to getting all of our friends and family together so that they can all share that moment with us. I think our reception will be a lot of fun as well (Seth).

Anything else you would like to add about your love story? I have a few things I’d like to add. The first thing I’d like to add is about our first few dates. On our first date ever, we decided to meet at Bar Louie in Station Square for lunch. I didn’t know it at the time, but I found out later, that Laura had her Mom drive her to our date and drop her off.  I guess she had her Mom hang out around Station Square during the date, so that if the date went terrible, she could have her Mom call her and save her from a possible bad first date. Luckily, that wasn’t the case and we hit it off well. So well in fact, that Laura ended up making our second date a date with her parents.

Another thing I’d like to add. I mentioned how I had the ring for 9 months before I ever popped the question. I spoke with her parents about it the same week that I had bought the ring, so they also knew I had the ring that entire time. Laura is very close with her parents and she speaks with both of them multiple times every day. So I think all of us did a great job at keeping it a secret for so long. They would all joke with me in private about when I was finally going to pop the question. Whenever I finally did propose, she called her parents ecstatically and told them about it, thinking that they had no idea. I believe her Dad’s first words were “Well it’s about time. He’s had that ring for 9 months now”. I just laughed about it and Laura looked at me in shock.  She couldn’t believe that I hid it from her for that long and immediately wanted to know where I hid it for so long.

Lastly, our emails with each other are something that is very important to us. Occasionally, we will go back and re-read those old emails together, or we will go back and forward an old one to each other. I guess they’re just something that helped us throughout everything that we had to go through for the first 2.5 years of our relationship (Seth).

These two are getting married at one of my favorite venues in Mt. Pleasant, and I can't wait to capture their day in June!