It was a beautiful Saturday evening when I met Cathy & Phil for their engagement photos. Usually Florida is blazing hot, but we happened to get the perfect temperature in Winter Park, even ending in some nighttime drizzle. (I’ll take what I can get with this crazy weather 😂 )

When Cathy reached out this past Spring, she expressed wanting a fall look for their photos. Having newly transplanted to Florida from NY, I didn’t want to break the news to her that Florida doesn’t typically participate in full blown autumn 😂 I gave her a few location options and mentioned we may get a little lucky towards the end of the year, but Florida has a mind of its own and it was hard to really nail down a time and place for the autumn leaves so far in advance! Browsing through our blogs, they decided on a few spots in downtown Winter Park, but as we got closer to the session we made a location change and BOY DID WE GET LUCKY! Being down here 7 years I truly forget that we get maybe a week or two of random fall weather. The temperatures drop a little and the trees change colors, but then it immediately all goes away and it’s four thousand degrees again. We just so happened to pick the perfect date and the perfect location to get that autumn vibe Cathy & Phil wanted!

We all know Rollins is always the perfect spot for photos, but it was just perfect for Cathy’s vision. I joked when we started that I was sorry it wasn’t too much of the autumn vibe they had wanted….but then we stumbled upon the back area around the lake that is actually all fall colored trees this time of year(!!) while the rest of campus is that classic garden look mixed with a little tropical vibe. We truly got the best of both worlds, giving them the Floridian look while also capturing some of the autumn season we are used to up North!

Cathy & Phil met at Minnesota’s in Long Beach, NY where they “danced the night away” 💃 🕺 I know that’s true because I saw firsthand that dip and knew they were the dancing couple! The main reason for wanting the fall engagement photos was to match not only their fall wedding next October in Connecticut, but also to honor their fall proposal. Cathy says, “It was a perfect Fall day! We went pumpkin picking, drank pumpkin beer, and then he completely surprised me when we got back to his house with the outside patio decorated with a “marry me” sign, candles, and roses. He managed to get my parents, best friends, and the rest of our family there for dinner after 🥹” Sooo cute!

Cathy & Phil, it was a pleasure spending the evening with you! Wishing you the most wonderful engagement season 😊

Hair & Makeup: @marciknuthhairandmakeup