Who loves locally picked apples and Ferris wheels and gorgeous golden light? Everyone, that’s who. Y’all are going to love the stunning real engagement photos I have to share with you today courtesy of Rob + Kristen Photography. Erin and Casey chose to have their photos taken at the North Carolina State Fair this past October, and the results are simultaneously playful, intimate, and a little bit whimsical. The love these two have for each other is so obvious and tender.
From the couple:
We are two lovebirds who met in high school by a vastly improbable and very fortunate phone call from Erin’s mother to Casey’s mother regarding Erin joining a 4-H Club. After spending years riding horses together and being best friends, Erin tricked Casey into falling in love with her, and we went on our first date on April 21, 2006, to a $1.00 movie theater to see “Walk the Line.” Since then we have dated, dated long distance, gone to college separately and together (Erin is three years younger), dated really long distance (Erin studied abroad in Italy), and lived together for the last two years. After eight wonderful years together we decided, and everyone we knew agreed, that it was time to take the relationship a bit further.
Erin is quite an artist, and Casey is a singer, although Erin doesn’t think him to be as good as he thinks himself to be. Obviously Casey is incredibly funny, although again, Erin disagrees. We don’t like sports, prefer ballet and theatre to movie theaters, love pumpkins, and spend a lot of time (too much) cooking, buying groceries, looking up recipes, and discovering new restaurants.
What is your favorite thing about each other?
Casey’s favorite thing about Erin is that she is always ready with a hug, a smile, or a kiss whenever it is needed for celebration, comfort, or just because we are both home from work. Erin’s favorite thing about Casey is that when Erin so often finds herself in a pickle, Casey never fails to come to her rescue. Casey brings Erin her lunch when she forgets it. He runs to the store when Erin is in the middle of a recipe and finds she is missing an ingredient. When Erin is running late for an appointment, Casey calls to let them know she is running late. Casey is a hero in Erin’s world.
Tell us about the proposal.
On February 10, 2014, Erin was involved in a terrible accident in Asheville, NC, during a snow storm that wreaked havoc on others’ ability to drive and nearly laid waste to all of Casey’s plans for the following Valentine’s Day weekend. Nevertheless, Casey took Erin on an all-out tour of Asheville to Blackbird restaurant, French Broad Chocolate Lounge, White Duck Taco Shop, and many of the great shops available in town. On the way “back to the car,” Casey pulled Erin onto a park bench at Pritchard Park. He handed her a wrapped box and told her to open her Valentine’s Day present. She opened it to discover a hoard of chocolate truffles and a chocolate box holding her perfect ring!
How did you choose the location for your engagement photos?
We have been to the State Fair every year since 2008. Every year, we go to the Old Grist Mill for the free hushpuppies and take pictures with the geese in the pond out back and the draft mules beside the old schoolhouse. After a tour of the most important aspects of the fair, we stop for some of that delicious fair food. Every fair symbolizes a time to celebrate and collect all the good harvests and bounties from the past growing season and prepare for the start of a new fresh season. In the same way, our engagement is indicative of our celebration of the time that we have had together, and to be contemplative about what we wish to achieve as an even closer couple in the next chapters of our life together.
Erin and Casey’s advice to other couples:
For those couples about to take the next step, whether that is marriage, engagement, or (in our opinion the hardest step) to ask out your best friend, remember that the best advice you can ask for will come from that of your heart’s desire. Be bold in asking how you can be better for the one you love. Remember, relationships are not always 50/50; sometimes they are 35/65, sometimes they are 80/20. It is up to you to make sure that, no matter what, you meet somewhere in between and strive to always make up the other’s part.
Belles, are you as smitten with these photos as I am? That last ferris wheel shot – ahhh! Many thanks again to Rob + Kristen for their beautiful photos. And a big congratulations to Erin and Casey!
Thanks for featuring our work, Laura! 🙂