I love New York.  Granted, I have never been there. But I am absolutely positive that if I did ever visit, I would just stay forever.  Erica and Hayley’s NY engagement shoot by Katje Hempel is a perfect example of keeping an engagement session simple so that it completely reflects the relationship you have.  No crazy-elaborate sets or costumes.  Just them…oh, and their super-cute dog, Oliver. Read their very creative engagement story below!

How did you two meet? 

We meet online and after 2 weeks of correspondence Hayley decided to take the bus up to NYC and we spent the weekend together.

How did you know she was “the one”? 

On our first date Erica looked across the table and saw a look in Hayley’s eyes that she had never seen before and Hayley fell in love with Erica at first sight.  Everyday after that we spent every weekend together, Erica eventually moved to DC and our love continued to grow each day and we both knew we never wanted to be apart.

Please, tell us about the proposal! 

Hayley took Erica on an overnight camping/canoe trip under the ruse of a pre-birthday celebration for Erica.  We set sail down the river with our dog Oliver and stopped for lunch on a private sandy beach.  Hayley put out a wine and cheese spread and also brought along a stack of trivial pursit cards.  When we aren’t at home we ask each other questions on one card and  you get a point for each question you get correct.  After playing a few cards it was Erica’s turn again.  What she didn’t know was that Hayley had created a card that looked exactly like a Trival Pursuit card, but had made the category questions about our relationship.  At this point Erica started to think something was up.  When Hayley finally came to the last question which is Sports/Leisure (The halfback for the Washington DC Gaels is now engaged to which New Yorker?) , she started asking the question but stopped at halfback and said she couldn’t pronounce one of the words so Erica needed to read it herself.   When Erica looked up after reading the card, Hayley was on one knee with the ring and asked if Erica would marry her. A month later, even though we were already engaged, Erica wanted to present Hayley with her dream engagement ring down on one knee as well. After arranging an outdoor candlelit spread of our favorite Indian food as a suprise on our deck, Hayley arrived home from Gaelic football practice. Erica got out a guitar and sang Hayley their song that she had learned. After the song was over they both got up to hug and then Erica got down on one knee and asked Hayley to marry her and slipped the ring on Hayley’s finger.

Anything special about the engagement shoot or why you chose the location you did?  

We choose to have the engagement shoot in Astoria, NY.  This is where we first met and we had Oliver come with us because he is a huge part of our lives.  The photos that are inside are of Brick, the restaurant we had our first date in and where we fell in love.