Kelli + Bryan

In the midst of welcome week at Michigan State University hundred and hundreds of new students crowd the campus. Somewhere in the chaos Kelli and Bryan crossed paths. Days later they had their first class together and Bryan found himself smitten, ” She was that smart beautiful girl in class and I was surprised that she even talked to me from time to time”. For over 5 years Kelli and Bryan had nothing more then a beautiful friendship.

Kelli moved away to Colombia to work as a missionary teacher, and on one of her breaks home for Christmas Bryan asked Kelli if she would like to grab coffee and catch up. Kelli quickly agreed. The next day after catching up, Bryan called Kelli while she was packing to leave again and asked if he could come over to talk in person. This time, he had something on his heart. As Kelli packed for Bogota, Bryan confessed to Kelli that he wished to know her better and to pursue a relationship with her. So over the next year even though they were on different continents, they made it a point to get to know each other even better. While they were worlds away, Kelli and Bryan fell in love.

While Kelli was back for a summer break in Michigan, Bryan took Kelli to the MSU gardens for their “real” first date! Bryan was excited and nervous in planning a perfect day for just the two of them. He had been asking many people what the perfect food and setting was for a picture perfect picnic date. Needless to say, Bryan did an awesome job. But soon, Kelli had to leave and Bryan was left missing her.

December 21st, 2013 Michigan was in the midst of a terrible ice storm that completely cut off traffic and power to thousands of people. This was also the only day Bryan had to propose to Kelli. She knew it was coming as this was her only day home. Bryan’s plan to take Kelli on a romantic hike and propose quickly diminished and she humorously watched as she could see Bryan mentally flipping through Plan A, Plan B and Plan C as the day progressed. At the end of the day Bryan found a quiet moment at night and he sat Kelli down. He read read Kelli entries from his journal about the first time he realized he loved her but was scared to tell her, the things he admires about her and most importantly, a list of reasons why he longed to make her his wife. And of course, she said yes.

We started Kelli and Bryan’s engagement session right where they had their very first date.

“I love that he loves music! Though we are different, we are kindred spirits. He will be my husband and best friend in this journey of life”
“I wish I had her ability to be silly and just have fun. It brings me a lot of joy to see her having fun and interacting in ways that show her true character. She is so fun-loving and joyful!”