Drew travels for a living, performing and speaking at events around the world. For this this gig he brought Jane out from Washington state, where they each live, to Nashville for fun. She thought the trip was coming to an end, but Drew had a surprise for her at the airport. They were going to New York City.

I boarded the plane behind them, dressed in a disguise and feeling way too much like James Bond. Jane had met me before, and I didn’t want to blow my cover. My job: I was hired to follow Drew and Jane to NYC, chasing them around like paparazzi, capturing the story as it unfolded. I ducked into doorways, hid in crowds and snuck around as I followed them around the city for miles. Every once in a while Drew would sneakily turn his head back and give me a wink. Everything was going according to plan.

Whenever Jane turned around and I thought I might be spotted, I would tip my lens to the sky and pretend to be a bird photographer.

I would be a terrible bird photographer.

Drew settled on the perfect spot in Central Park.

Drew had asked all the people in their lives who love them to send him a video. Drew strung all the videos together and played it for Jane.

Later, Jane said that this is when she knew it was happening. He was going to propose.

He said I love you. He dropped his knee into the snow and asked her to marry him.

With one of those giant, enthusiastic smiles that only Jane can make, she said yes.

The snow started falling the moment he got down on one knee. Drew and Jane’s story— forever— will be a thoughtful, beautiful, snowy production in the heart of NYC. 

Congratulations Drew and Jane! I can’t wait to photograph your wedding in Dallas next month!

The evening was filled with great conversations between Joy and Emerson Eggerichs about how to create great marriages, and even better, how to begin working towards great marriage while you’re single. Art was a huge aspect to the night. There was a beautiful set, artist profiles and live music from local musicians. So much fun!

I would absolutely recommend the book, Love and Respect for anybody getting married or planning on getting married. And I would also recommend checking out Joy’s site, Love and Respect NOW. I’m a huge fan!

Enjoy a taste of The Illumination Project!

On the topic of marriage, it would mean the world to me if you took a peek at a few of my favorite weddings I’ve shot in the last few months:

This is my sister, Brittani.

I remember when we were little, Brittani would have ladybug birthday parties and I would have fireman birthday parties. Ladybug parties were always lame because ladybugs pee on people. Firemen, on the other hand, never pee on people. I remember watching countless Disney Channel Original Movies like Zenon, Motocrossed and Cadet Kelly with her. Some of the most beautiful and incredible films of our generation… and probably any generation… ever. I remember the two of us being scared to get pulled behind our boat on an inner tube, but doing it anyway. I remember countless roadtrips to the ocean and our cabin where we would listen to Adventures in Odyssey. I remember her buying spy toys to spy on my friends and I. She had to buy the girl versions of spy toys though, which were definitely not as good as the boy versions.

A lot has changes since we were kids. A lot has stayed the same. Firemen are still cooler than ladybugs. I still buy her a vintage  Disney Channel Original Movie for her birthday and Christmas. (Don’t tell her, but this year she’s getting Johnny Tsunami!) We’re incredible at inner tubing now. We even have tricks! She and I still listen to Adventures in Odyssey on fun little roadtrips of our own. Instead of spying on each other, we just stay up late talking to each other. Either way, we get to know what’s going on in each others’ lives.

Today is Brittani’s 18th birthday, which coincidentally marks eighteen years of one of my best friends being in my life day in and day out. Happy birthday, BT! I love you!

We took photos over two days. The photos above were taken up at Priest Lake, Idaho, where our family has a cabin. The photos below were taken on the beautiful Palouse where the two of us grew up.

And we finished off the session with a double rainbow over Portland and grilled cheese sandwiches in a double decker bus.

Sam is a graphic designer and he designed an awesome site for their wedding: samuelandkerri.com

I absolutely love it when couples do a ‘first look.’ It’s seriously such a special moment.

I think that mismatching dresses are the coolest.

This is why I like these two:

I’m pretty sure he was singing ‘Call Me Maybe’…

Let’s zoom in to see just how crazy this garter toss got…

All photos were edited with a combination of Snapseed and VSCOcam.

I can’t wait to share more about this trip soon. These are a few of the photos I’ve shot and edited on my phone in my free time. Feel free to follow me on Instagram for more photos.