Making the journey from up North to the sunny state of Florida for the holidays, Taylor and Chris stopped by for their beautiful engagement session in Orlando at Mead Botanical Gardens. It was so great to meet my sweethearts with just under a year left until their big day.
Taylor and Chris met back in the Spring of 2011 while both attending Boston University (BU). Chris at the time was a senior and Taylor was a freshman. Both hanging out at The Lacrosse House on campus, Taylor asked around to her fellow peers if anyone had a phone charger as her phone was close to 0%. Luckily Chris just so happened to have one, which led to the two chatting it up and late night pizza at T Anthony’s Pizza. The two had so much in common and decided to exchange phone numbers.
Even though their number exchange happened early on Taylor’s arrival at BU, the two would only occasionally exchange texts for the next two years and casually have a date once in a while. Luckily though, their occasional hangouts would soon turn to dating when Taylor convinced Chris to meet her out one night at a local bar. Making her rounds with her girlfriends downtown, Chris agreed to stop by and the two connected once again and realized that they should really give dating a try!
Chris loves out Taylor truly makes him “want to be the best version” of himself that he could possibly be. She is perfect for him in every way from how beautiful she is inside and out. As Chris explains, “I love that she’s given my life a clear purpose – to work as hard as I possibly can to be the best person I can be for her, for us, and in the future for our family. I love that I get to love her forever.”
For Taylor, it is how Chris’ love has evolved over time. First drawn to his sense of humor (and of course phone charger hehe!), Taylor loved and still does love how much he can make her laugh and cheer her up even when she is having a bad day. As their relationship grew, it was how Chris’s love began to prioritize the two of them over everything else. As Taylor explains, “Chris puts our needs first and always makes me feel like I am the most important person in the world.”
Fast forward five years later from when they met, Chris traveled down with Taylor to spend his first Christmas and New Years Eve with Taylor’s family in Sarasota. With the trip coming up, Chris knew it would be the perfect time to ask Taylor’s dad for permission to marry his oldest daughter. However, that became rather challenging after they arrived to do so. A household of four girls, all of which are the apple of dad’s eye, took up the majority of time and it was very difficult for Chris to have time alone to ask him. Finally on the last day of their vacation, Chris was able to pull Taylor’s dad aside for an entire two hours to ask the big question before the even bigger question – could he marry his daughter? Of course Taylor’s dad agreed and was ecstatic for the two of them.
Traveling back home, Chris began preparing for his proposal. With Taylor being an accountant and her busiest time at work being through April, Chris decided to wait until April 21st. Reserving a private room at Taylor’s favorite restaurant in Boston, Ruth’s Chris, he invited his parents, and Taylor’s family to join him on the excitement and milestone in his and Taylor’s lives to come.
Convincing Taylor that they were off to a work event, she dressed up for the night excited that it just so happened to be at her favorite dinner spot. Arriving at the restaurant, Chris opened the door to the room as Taylor followed him in. Completed shocked is an understatement! There standing in front of her was everyone she loved so dearly. Turning back to Chris, she found him on one knee asking her to marry him. Crying, screaming “yes”, followed by more crying and screaming of absolute sheer joy, Taylor could not have been more happier.
For my sweethearts, their key advice to other couples planning to tie the knot is to not be afraid of a long engagement. With their proposal in April of this year and tying the knot in October of next year, it feels like time has flown by, but at the same time the little bit of extra time has led to a somewhat (almost completely) stress free planning process. They have secured all of the vendors they wanted along with their venue that aligned with their vision for their big day.
