Nederland Engagements | Celina and Matt

Whenever I meet with a couple for a wedding consultation, one of my main goals is to get to know them – find out how they met, how he (or she 😉 ) proposed, things like that. As we move into discussing planning their engagement sessions I stress how important it is to use locations that mean something to them as a couple, like where they met, where they went on their first date, where they like to hang out. Ten or thirty years from now they can point to the photos in their engagement album (you do plan to get an engagement album, don’t you? ) and say “that’s where your mother and I went on our first date, and that’s where she proposed to me” 🙂 Something that’s personal and unique to them.

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to put some of that in motion. Celina and Matt went to the Nederland Heritage Festival on their first date. Matt won her various great and grand prizes and introduced Celina to fried Oreo’s – Celina’s current drug of choice. To say she is addicted to them is just a small understatement 😉 In discussing today’s trip to the the Heritage Festival, we decided that since we had already photographed her actual engagement session, I could do something a little different and just be a fly on the wall while they re-lived the magic that was Celina and Matt’s first date 🙂 I tracked them from a distance, walking through the crowds, oblivious to me:








The setting reminded me of an older John Grisham movie where the camera tracked the main characters through the crowds of New Orleans. Here Celina and Matt re-play their water pistol game:





… except this time Matt was gracious enough to let her win 😉





More game time…








Each time, Matt was extra generous, letting Celina win each round. Then it was time, mecca was calling and we had to heed the call. On the way to the fried Oreo stand we passed a behind the scenes look at what really reminded me of the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy in New York City. During the festival you walk down the street sampling from the different vendors many wonderful foods and flavors, from mozzareppa’s to gelatos you’ve never had before. If you get a chance to go to NYC soon, make it during the festival.





And now…

the moment we’ve been waiting for…

🙂 Matt is practicing his cake feeding skills:





Celina gives him the thumbs up and the sun sets in the background:





Stay tuned for their upcoming Nederland wedding in June 🙂