Rachel and Kendall met me out at the beautiful Dickson Azalea Park for their Spring inspired engagement. A park where Rachel grew up from having birthday parties to spending time with her family, my sweethearts just knew that it would be the perfect spot to capture their love.
Delaney Street Baptist Church is a very special place for Rachel and Kendall, not only because it will be where they are tying the knot, but also because it was where their story began. Many years back, even before both Rachel and Kendall were born, their families both attended the church and became close friends. Kendall’s family moved periodically around the country, so unfortunately they never met as children, but Rachel’s family stayed local – even on the same block! – and continued to attend the church. Fast forward to 2014, Rachel attended a young adults group where she met Kendall’s younger brother Shane. Talking about their interests and where they grew up, they found out that their families had both attended the very church that Rachel was still active in. Shane went back to his parents who remembered Rachel’s parents very well and so a friendship began.
Back at their church group, Rachel introduced her cousin Amy to Shane and Shane introduced his brother Christopher to Amy and Rachel. While the group would hang out all of the time, it wasn’t until December of 2015 when Rachel would finally be introduced to Kendall, Shane’s older brother who had been in Scotland working on his PhD. While Rachel recalls that they did not have a love at first sight moment, their love slowly developed over time as they reconnected at additional events and found out how much they had in common from their love of country music to their church. Kendall took the leap to ask Rachel out on a first date, and since that date the two became inseparable, even moving to Orlando to be with one another.
For Kendall, he fell in love with how “full of life” Rachel is, along with her goodness. For Rachel, she fell in love with Kendall’s “heart for the Lord” through his kindness, patiences, and respect of everyone around him.
Having found his soul mate, Kendall knew that he wanted his proposal to Rachel to be very special. Planning out a celebratory dinner, one year from their first date, Kendall started their night off by taking Rachel to Winter Park to eat at the same restaurant that they had went to one year ago. After a fabulous meal, Kendall surprised Rachel by taking her to a local park where they enjoyed the lake view and exploring the area walking hand in hand. After they walked but eh lake, Kendall paused for a moment stopping Rachel, took the ring out of his pocket and bent down to one knee. Asking for her hand in marriage, Rachel said, “yes!” The two celebrated even more with a delicious cookie from Gideon’s Cookies afterwards. Little did Rachel know that this was actually a stall tactic before the next leg of their journey. Taking Rachel to her grandparent’s house, Kendall surprised her by having both of their families meet them their to celebrate their proposal. As Kendall describes their special moment, “it was a very special time for all of us as Rachel nd I took our place as an engaged couple among our family and dearest friends. And each morning since that day, I am still amazed that I am really going to marry my best friend.”
Looking forward to our team capturing Rachel and Kendall tie the knot at their childhood church this July!
Venue: Dickson Azalea Park
