I love these guys!! Not only are the insanely cute and adorable together (seriously you can FEEEEEL the love when you’re around them) but they met in a very simliar way that Greg and I met. We met online-not necessarily thru eHarmony but online none the less. So as she got excited to tell me “how” they met, I could share in the excitement!!!!

How they met:

Ashley says….”Matt and I met on eHarmony. We emailed each other back and forth for about three weeks before we began talking on the phone. We talked on the phone for a week before meeting in person. We had our first date at the Common Place coffee shop. I made Matt a scrapbook for our one year anniversary and printed out all of our eHarmony communications and emails so we could read back through them. On eHarmony both Matt and myself had to answer a questions about our expectations about a future relationship. Matt wrote something to the effect that he was potentially looking for a serious relationship but was not expecting to work out wedding details on the first date. It was ironic to reread this because when Matt and I actually met for our first date at the coffee shop, I was a bit nervous. When I get nervous I tend to ramble and while I do not remember how I got on this topic of conversation, I began discussing my dreams of a Christmas themed wedding. So we began discussing those wedding plans on our first date and now we’re actually planning our Christmas themed wedding and it feels really, really nice.”

Do you see where they’re sitting…yep, THAT’s the VERY SPOT they sat when they first met!!! I want to give a big shout out to the Common Place Coffee Shop in Indiana, PA for their hospitality while we were there. <3

Tell us about the proposal:

“It happened on our one year anniversary but I was totally clueless. It was a weekday and I had a midterm due the next day so I didn’t see it coming. We went out for dinner and then Matt suggested that we stop at the Common Place on the way home to get a hot drink to commemorate meeting there one year ago. We went inside and he got a hot chocolate and I got chai tea and we were in the parking lot walking to the car when Matt started to sweet talk me. He began reminiscing about the first time we met and I remember thinking that this was all very nice but it was late and cold and I wondered why we were still standing in the parking lot. Then Matt put his hot chocolate on the ground and got down on one knee in the parking lot under the streetlight..right near the spot we shared our first hug. I just remember it feeling like time had stopped. The noise of people and traffic just disappeared and he asked me to marry him and I said “of course.” Then, we excitedly called and told our families and I still had to finish that midterm haha. Talk about distracted! Later on Matt showed me the scrap of paper that he wrote his little speech on before he memorized how he would propose. I’m excited to put that into our next scrapbook. Along with the coffee sleeve from the tea I ordered that night haha”

Who said “I love you” first?

“Matt came to visit me at school (before he moved to Indiana) on a Sunday afternoon. We were sitting together in my studio apartment, Matt on my tiny loveseat while I sat on the edge of my bed. I don’t remember the specific sweet thing that occurred–Matt either brought me something or said something sweet–and I asked why he was so good to me and he replied that he loved me. I didn’t reply back right away..took me a little bit to absorb how awesome it was that an amazing person like Matt loved me. A little while later I told him I loved him too.”

The most amazing thing happened while we were out shooting their portraits. A woman inside of the theatre building invited us inside. She gave us access to the stage in the building they went to see plays together when they first started dating. It was awesome watching them have their first official first dance on the stage. Pictures like this……are worth so much more than the paper they are printed on. I imagine them pointing to this image 40 years from now and telling their grandchildren about the story behind it…THAT’S why I’m a photographer!!!! <3

 

 

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