A freezing, gray, cloudy (typical) Pittsburgh day didn’t stop Carly and Jared’s rooftop engagement session with Rachel Tokarski Photography from being totally amazing. This lucky pair has their very own apartment building to thank for this incredible view. From there, they headed to the Cultural District since these two are self-proclaimed “theater nerds”. Throw in a few bridge shots for good measure, and you’ve got yourself a quintessential Pittsburgh engagement session. The city’s infamous outline and downtown’s lovable grit may seem harsh for e-photos, but Carly’s bright red jacket and the playfulness between her and Jared brighten things right up. Carly wanted this session to capture exactly where she and Jared are in their lives – in the city and in love. I’d say mission accomplished.
P.S. Wait until you see Carly’s GORGEOUS amethyst engagement ring!
From the bride…
When and how did you two meet?
Once upon a time, Jared, a handsome director, was searching high and low for an actress to star in his first production with his newly formed Shakespeare company, Food for Groundlings. By chance, I, a college student home for summer break and looking for a project to keep me busy, went in for an audition. As rehearsals went on and we got to know each other, our chemistry was undeniable and romance bloomed. We fell more in love with each other every day.
Juicy details on the proposal, please! Where, when, how?
One of our favorite things to do together is go to WWE (you got it right, World Wrestling Entertainment) events whenever they are in town. On November 30, 2015, I was rushing around our apartment scrambling to make a sign denouncing the champion at the time, Sheamus, for his disgusting beard. While I was working busily, Jared started suggesting different signs I should make. “What about something more personal? How about ‘She said yes’?” I turned around to see Jared on his knee holding the most beautiful amethyst ring I had ever seen. After a few minutes of “Are you serious!?”, I said yes! We got to share our excitement with the world at WWE Raw and, who knows, maybe we will get to share our newlywed bliss with the world at Wrestlemania 33…
Tell me about the ring!
The amethyst ring does have a cool backstory! The first night Jared and I hung out just the two of us, we were having some drinks and trying to get to know each other. We found we had a lot in common and actually should have run into each other several times in our lives (I was best friends with his cousin growing up, he was in a mutual friend’s wedding, and we actually graduated from the same high school five years apart). He pointed out a ring I was wearing on my right hand and asked me about it. I told him that I bought it for myself while studying abroad in London and that it was amethyst, my favorite. He jumped at the word amethyst. “The Amethyst Queen!” Obviously I was confused and a little freaked out that he was so excited about my ring. Apparently, he had written a song a long time ago about his ideal lady that was called “The Amethyst Queen”. At the time it was a funny coincidence, but once we started seriously dating, it became our thing. Every piece of jewelry he has gotten for me has had amethyst featured. It was only right for the engagement ring to be an amethyst too!
Describe the engagement session.
For our engagement shoot, we wanted to capture where we are at this stage of our lives together: in love in the city. The rooftop of our apartment building has a great view of the Pittsburgh skyline, so we had to take advantage of it! Then, we just walked to our favorite place, the Cultural District. We go see shows in the theaters all the time since we are both theater nerds. The only picture I had in my head was us below the Byham marquee for our Save the Dates. The rest was Rachel being a brilliant photographer! We had planned on a sunny day, and instead got a freezing muggy day…BUT these pictures couldn’t have turned out more perfect! My bright red jacket (we didn’t plan on wearing our jackets at all) with the neutral tones of the city really popped and added to the photos. By the end of the day, we were all popsicles, but we had a great time laughing and kissing. 🙂
