Downtown Asheville Engagement Session || Brianna + Nick

When asked to describe themselves as a couple in only one word, Brianna and Nick said “FUNctional!” And, after photographing both their engagement and elopement sessions, I can totally agree. Brianna was thorough in her planning, making sure we finalized timelines weeks in advance, sending family ahead to Wicked Weed to ensure they’d have a table at Wicked Weed on a busy Friday and even bringing water jugs with her to the summer ceremony just in case.

And she was just as thorough in making sure she and Nick enjoyed their celebratory weekend together! Throughout their entire engagement session - from the moment I met them in the Wicked Weed courtyard until we took our last photo at Aloft - they were all grins, smiling ear to ear every time they looked at each other. In their questionnaire, Brianna said that she wanted to remember most about this season “how gleefully happy [she] is each time Nick texts, calls, writes a note or just smiles. [She] is enormously overwhelmed with love for Nick.” Their happiness was infectious!

As they’d just come in from out of town and were preparing for their elopement the next day, we wanted to keep their engagement session low-key. What more perfect way to do so while showing off what attracted them to Asheville, than photographing at a downtown brewery? After a couple beers and lots of clinking glasses, we took the short walk up to Aloft to finish their session with rooftop portraits. On the way, we got even more Asheville flair than we bargained for as the LaZoom nun “shot us!” (with a water gun.)

While these two were goofy and bubbly on the surface, it was easy to see that their love and commitment ran deep - a fantastic illustration of “FUNctional.” As we talked about their love story and got to know each other better, I could see that they not only had wonderful chemistry, but they genuinely enjoyed each other’s presence. That they had a beautiful, caring partnership. Nick said that what he loves most about Brianna is that “she’s has been supportive through both the best of times and the worst of times. A true friend that has your back.” Brianna reciprocated that Nick is “immensely thoughtful always.” I left our photoshoot incredibly excited for the next day’s waterfall elopement knowing that while the location was definitely going to be epic, it was Brianna and Nick’s love and adoration that would steal the day.