An Adventurous Engagement Shoot in the Mountains
This summer engagement session at Artist Point at Mount Baker in Washington was as adventurous as the couple themselves. Rita and Aaron have a definite meet-cute meets scary movie story. Having first met in the dark that Rita describes as “the wee hours before dawn,” they quickly learned they had a real connection.
It all started just over three years ago when the pair coincidentally decided to join an early morning trail running group. Comprised mostly of “busy parents, full-time professionals, and athletes ranging from collegiate champions to 100-miler trail runners somehow separately had the not-so-bright idea to asynchronously invite [them] to join their 5:15 Thursday morning mountain runs. [They] both had the not-so-bright response to acquiesce,” Rita remembers. From then on they “spent mornings slowly but surely finding out that [they] each had a connection to a quirky and quaint town in Ohio called Wooster, loved adventuring, eating new foods, and live music, and [they] both could laugh loudly enough to wake up the resident black bears.” Surely, that makes for an adventurous match made in the mountains! And this photo shoot commemorating their engagement taken by Kate Holt Photography shows just how right this couple is for each other.
Having had their first official date at a taco shop, Rita and Aaron “decided afterwards that [they] should continue what [they] started and smooch at every taco shop in town.” Talk about spreading the love!
And that love continues to spread as they engage in some of their favorite activities — running, working on their farm, and playing with their dog, Ladybird. So of course, it’s only natural Aaron incorporated these elements into his romantic proposal on a very cold, rainy Christmas Eve.
Preserve your bouquet with Pressed Bouquet Shop + take 10% off with code WEDDINGDAYMATCH10. Just for you, lovies.
LEARN MORE
As Rita tells it: “We headed up a favorite trail for a run. It was so awful outside that we were the only car at the trailhead and only ones leaving footprints in the mud. We had a blast, though, of course. At the very top, Aaron yelled ‘Why don't we go this way?’ which is actually an inside-signal in our little pack. Ladybird knows the command ‘this way’ to mean turn around, and her humans aren’t much brighter. So Ladybird and I both turned around to find Aaron down on one knee asking for us to keep walking, running, and going this way and that together in life.”
They plan on marrying in the summer at Mount Pisgah Arboretum in Eugene, Oregon. As planners themselves, Rita says, they have had fun so far, coordinating the details of their big day. “We have loved being able to connect with family and friends and get them excited for some PNW adventuring.” We can only imagine—and what’s more, it seems their wedding will no doubt lead to an adventure of a lifetime for this fun-loving couple.
Photos courtesy of Kate Holt Photography
