This downtown Pittsburgh engagement session beautifully captures bold, bright colors and a casual kind of love that just gives you all the feels. Cassidy and Jared’s day took them to Mellon Park (where the pair proposed to each other!), the Strip District, and the North Shore. It was there where they, along with Whitling Photography, found all the coolest backdrops this city has to offer. Color block sidewalks, street art, hand-painted murals, and even a picture perfect blue sky gave this session a rainbow-like quality that is bound to put a smile on your face. With every touch, twirl, and playful smile, this celebratory shoot is chock-full of sweet moments! If traditional and classic blended with flirty and fun engagement photos are on your wish list, then Cassidy and Jared’s are sure to inspire!
About the Couple
Jared and I actually met our first year at Pitt but we did not reconnect until after we both graduated. Jared was roommates with a friend of mine, so I would see him occasionally, but I found him to be really obnoxious! In his defense, most first year undergraduate students are! Throughout undergrad, I became better friends with some of his friends, but never him. We can pinpoint exact parties and tailgates that we both were at, but we never really spoke to each other. We ended up “reconnecting” and having a real conversation in July 2018, when we both were with a group at a food truck festival in Bakery Square. We ended up talking to one another pretty much that entire night and a week later had our first date at Casbah! This is embarrassing to admit, and while I did have a few drinks in me at that food truck festival, I remember thinking to myself that night that I was going to marry him someday. I could tell immediately that Jared was so caring, kind, mature, and thoughtful. We have truly come a long way since our first years at Pitt!
During the winter of 2019, we seriously were talking about marriage and getting engaged in the coming months. We felt that we both should be involved in the decision and the planning, but I still wanted to be surprised…at least a little bit! I had a general idea of when Jared was going to propose but did not know anything for certain. During the last weekend of March 2020, Jared told me that he had planned to propose that coming weekend and a bunch of our out-of-town friends and parents were coming in to celebrate with us. He told me that since everything was shutting down and because the COVID cases were so high, he was thinking of postponing the proposal but wanted my opinion. I was so grateful that he was upfront with me and that we were able to talk it out together and come to a decision as a couple. We decided it would be safer for him to wait. At that point, we didn’t really know how long shutdowns would last, but it was clear after a few weeks that nothing was going to be changing anytime soon. We both really wanted to get engaged and decided to go ahead with it anyway! Since we were quarantining together, it was pretty impossible for him to keep anything from me, although he tried. The day he proposed – May 2, 2020 – I knew it was happening but I didn’t mind! Jared asked me to marry him in Mellon Park, which is a place where we have spent a lot of time together. I also asked him to marry me there; we are both wearing engagement rings! My roommate and her boyfriend were there as well to take pictures. We called our families and went back to my apartment where a little celebration was set up just for us four. While it was not what we had been planning, and we would have loved to have celebrated with all our friends and family, Jared was so thoughtful and sweet by making the COVID engagement romantic and fun. I am truly so lucky and I cannot wait to marry Jared!
About the Session
Even before we were engaged, I was doing research on Pittsburgh photographers. When I came across Stephanie Whitling, I immediately loved her work. The first picture I saw of hers was a bride in the woods; it was a very non-traditional shot and I love being unique and non-traditional (I am an enneagram 4 big time!). Stephanie’s photos also have these really dark, romantic tones them, which I love. Stephanie was also super go with the flow with locations. We wanted to get some more formal and nature-y shots in Mellon Park but also wanted to do a fun, casual city shoot as well. She let us do both and we had so much fun the entire time! Stephanie also does not do “typical” shots and that is obvious from our photos. While we do have some more traditional looking engagement photos, we also have some of us dancing in the Strip to a song we both love. She really let us interact naturally with each other and she captured it in such a beautiful way.
