sam + kyle | engaged!

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this comic-book-loving-pair met 7 years ago at an anime convention -- both dressed as bart, the pirate from xenogears. "so i guess our mutually ridiculous nerdiness brought us together," sam says. ha! how awesome is that? kyle's first impression? "sam had a cool confidence that made me want to know more about her, was genuinely friendly, and immediately gained my respect. also, she had really great hair, which is funny because she cut it off before we started dating.”

they did the long distance dance for a bit: "we lived a couple hundred miles apart; so even though he was the nicest guy i'd ever met, and i loved his smile, i didn't really see a relationship working out." as fate would have it, sam eventually headed to dc for school and the two moved in together after graduation. 5 years after their first date, kyle + sam kept the pirate theme alive with a trip to ocracoke -- famous for the resting place of blackbeard's loot AND NOW where kyle popped the question: "given our pirate-centric history, it was the perfect place for a proposal, and made the big-ass-pirate-treasure-souvenir-shop-glass-engagement-diamond that much more amazing." sam's not your typical diamon-ring-chick, so kyle found the most anti-dimaond ring he could manage.

we headed to the national zoo to play with prairie dogs, otters, and other fluffy blobs o' cute...then planted ourselves on connecticut ave for some reading. congrats you two! i really loved meeting you and talking scott pilgrim -- although jon was seriously jealous when i told him the first shoot he's missed in ages was with a pair of comic bookers and gamers.

anna + chris | engaged!

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when anna mentioned she loved the madmen era, i was PSYCHED. and, i must say, she pulled the look off flawlessly from head to toe. and chris? not only did he bring his trombone along, he played it for us on the street! i must also add that he was pretty awesome about having red lipstick smeared across his face for the majority of the shoot. congrats guys! we see a mighty happy future for the two of you.

the story according to anna:

anna and chris met one fateful day in durham, north carolina through mutual friends while attending duke university. never ones to follow the usual path, they were both members of the campus’ only co-ed fraternity, which provided ample opportunities to get to know each other. naturally, anna was attracted to chris’ car before chris himself, but he didn’t mind waiting for her to come to her senses. by the time senior year came around, they were well on their way to a long and happy future together.

having grown up in kiev, ukraine before coming to america, anna was anxious to travel back to her home town after college. chris spent many years (unsuccessfully) attempting to learn russian, but with anna and her mother in tow, he managed to avoid any international incidents. schevchenko park in kiev offered a beautiful backdrop to a proposal that was much anticipated, perhaps more so by the future mother in law than the future bride. having spent the better part of the trip hiding the diamond ring in a mini altoid tin in his pocket, chris was happy to finally pop the question. anna spent a millisecond thinking it over before saying yes, and the rest was history.

dress: vintage anne klein
her shoes: calvin klein
hair: salon roche, washington dc
makeup: m-a-c, georgetown
suit + shirt: nordstrom
his shoes: bostonian

nicole + josh | engaged!

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nicole + josh's first date was at dc's very own folger shakespeare library for a midsummer night's dream. the show sucked, and nicole knew that if josh thought this was decent entertainment he just wasn't the man for her. fortunately, he also thought the show was painful and the rest is history! stay tuned for their nuptials next summer...it's bound to be awesome. with grape soda pins, clown noses, and impromptu heel kicks -- i ask you, how could it not be?

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