I can easily start off saying we had a blast photographing Ariel + Alex’s downtown Wilmington and beach engagement session… but there’s so much more to this story.
I NEVER thought in a million years we would ever meet another Ariel + Alex couple. Let alone get to photograph them!! Alex is a really common name so no surprises there, but Ariel isn’t anywhere near as common. I knew this was a new life goal as soon as we met. And luckily got to cross off that goal almost immediately.
We met them at an open house at the Oaks at Salem. Alex started chatting with us first and ourselves and our photography style. The two Alex’s quickly learned they shared a name and eventually Alex called over his fiancée… and cue the confusion. I heard my name and then suddenly another person was responding! There was this brilliant “aha… omg… is this a prank?” moment. We started chatting more and they felt like old friends rather than people we had just met. We set up a meeting at a local coffee shop and our meeting was literally 2.5 hours long. ???? After learning so much about each other, including how eerily similar we all were, everyone was in agreement the potential confusion at their wedding was too golden an opportunity to pass up. Though I like to think they liked our photography style and us as well.
They met in a college business calculus class after Ariel chose a self-assigned seat and found Alex sitting in it one day. After having a little laugh about the incident Alex asked her out to dinner and they’ve been together ever since. Ariel ate chicken strips on their first date and the next several afterwards so they have a running joke that she only eats chicken strips. They love being outdoors, brewery hopping, and trying all sorts of delicious foods together.
They chose downtown Wilmington and the beach for their adventure engagement session because Ariel spent most of her summers there in high school and college. Plus Ariel and Alex took their first vacation together in Wilmington as a couple! They also dream of moving to the beach one day because they love the ocean. We rented a house for the weekend with them. We explored downtown Wilmington, ate at some of their favorite local restaurants, and of course snapped their engagement photos! For their session we started off walking around downtown and then ended at the beach with the perfect cotton candy sky. The entire weekend was so wonderful! My favorite part though was hanging out with them all weekend and chatting about everything.
Advice For Couples Planning E-Session
“Pick somewhere you love, it carried more weight for us than it being somewhere we’ve never been because we have good memories in Wilmington and it made us feel super comfortable/nostalgic.
Coordinate your clothes earlier than an hour before and take your photographer’s advice on what to wear. We would’ve ended up in some weird color combos and patterns otherwise, I’m sure ????
Practice being camera comfy! It feels like a weird one, but getting used to smiling/posing for the camera beforehand even if you’re just taking candids of your partner makes you feel a lot more comfortable and natural the day of your shoot”
We absolutely adore these two and we loved exploring downtown Wilmington and the beach for their engagement session! To say we’re excited for their wedding would be the biggest understatement. I mean life goal to photograph a couple with our names! I hope you enjoy a few of our favorite photos from their engagement session!
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You can view more engagement sessions here.