Kade & Susan are engaged!
Oh, my heart. These two!!! Put on your favorite love song right now and then take a scroll through these photos, and you'll feel like you've dropped right into a movie. The laughter, the hugs, the kisses, the looks between them... it'll melt your heart, I guarantee it. Counting down until their big day!
This blog post wouldn't really be complete without acknowledging how special this couple is to me. Susan, you were the first person we got to meet up with when we came to Derby (at Sharon's Place, RIP that restaurant 🥲) and you've continued to be a dear friend from that moment on. I've watched you grow and evolve and serve God faithfully over the past five years, and I've gotten to see exactly how incredible of a person you are. Which made my standards quite high for the fella who would be your guy!! But enter Kade, the man with a constant smile and the man who, when he was near, would make you visibly light up. It was such a comfort to me that I could see you being completely yourself with him, and he only brought out the best in you.
Kade, I remember the night we were all at McKenzie's wedding, and you having a full-on conversation with Will and being so present and sweet with him. He was pretty certain you guys had just become BFFs, and he continued to ask when you all would be hanging out the next time. (Still need to make that happen, btw, haha) But I could easily see what a kind person you are, and it made my heart so happy to know that you were the one for Susan.
Susan, thank you for sacrificing your hand on a prickly plant so we could get these shots. (Here's hoping it was worth it?? 😅😅)
After we left the greenhouse, it was time to head to Greater Grounds! Originally we planned to include this spot just because the weather had been positively FRIGID leading up to their session (and obviously it's super cute inside), but God really and truly blessed us with a warm enough day to allow for outdoor photos without even having to bundle up! (I seriously can't explain how miraculous it felt because the day before was one of those that was not only cold, but the wind was painful. All the praise hands for that change in weather!!) But! Because playing cards together is one of the things that Susan and Kade love to do, we kept this stop in the plans and picked up some delicious coffee while we were at it!
The amount of time we spent not just politely laughing but downright cackling during this session was the best way to kick off the new year. I allow myself a bit of a photography "hibernation" in December, (which I usually come out of feeling like this bear) but this shoot was the kickstart I needed to get me energized and extra excited for 2026!
**Insert the hootin' and hollerin' and catcalls from people driving by as the soundtrack for these photos down at street level.
Friends, I can't tell you what a joy it is to be part of this incredibly special time in your lives! Now let's get ya hitched!!
