"Behind every strong soldier, there is an even stronger woman who stands behind him, supports him, and loves him with all her heart." Courtney and Denny, a member of the United States Air Force, incorporated the American flag in their patriotic engagement session.
While planning their engagement photos, Kevin, a Navy sailor, and his fiancée, Bridgette, knew they wanted to re-create the War's End Kiss, an infamous photo snapped in Times Square on the day World War II officially ended. The couple shared a stunning patriotic engagement session, with Kevin in his Navy uniform and Bridgette coordinating in a white dress, ending with the iconic kiss.
After spending six months apart while Travis was deep under the sea on a U-Boat, Sarah and Travis captured a beautiful nautical-inspired engagement session with Travis in uniform. "Whoever said 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder' wasn’t kidding around," said their photographer, Sarah Kathleen.
Robert is a Sergeant in the United States Army. Larissa is a loving mother of two. Their photographer, Samantha Hebert, describes them as "fun-loving and bubbly people whose chemistry is hard to match." We think that definitely comes across in these photos!
Throughout their relationship, Janell and Brian were separated by nearly 1,000 miles — she in Kansas and he in Corpus Christi, Texas, training as a Marine pilot.
During one visit, Brian took Janell sightseeing on Corpus Christi's grand retired battleship — the USS Lexington. On top of the flight deck, he got down on one knee and proposed.
When the couple called Kateri of Dulce & Bellezza Photography to book a vintage patriotic engagement session, Kateri instantly suggested the USS Lexington. Without knowing that Brian had proposed there, she asked the couple to stage a proposal near the end of the shoot — and it turned out to be the same exact location where Brian had proposed six months earlier!
The Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California made the perfect setting for this vintage military-inspired engagement session. Justin, a Navy pilot, donned his pilot wings, while Sally drew inspiration from a '50s pinup for their gorgeous patriotic shoot.
For their engagement photos, Sarah and Ben decided to showcase the city where they live and love. Starting at the Washington Monument, they visited their favorite landmarks throughout the nation's capital for a beautiful, patriotic engagement session.
Megan and Vance met while serving as Captains in the United States Army and became engaged during their deployment to Afghanistan. Since the military played such a promiment role in their relationship, they knew they wanted to showcase it in their engagement photos.
"We also knew that we wanted to do something out of the ordinary," said Megan. "Vance is a big collector of vintage American militaria, so we decided it would be fun to do the shoot in a WWII theme with a couple of uniforms that he had—I wore a Red Cross uniform, and he wore an Ike jacket from a family friend. Our photographer did an amazing job with the photos, creating a mood that played on 'leaving and coming home'—perfect for a couple who had just returned from deployment!"
The benefits and drawbacks to having a longer-than-average engagement.
The Five-Year Engagement premieres today, and it's a topic that hits close to home for the BG web team—between the two of us, we have a five-year engagement (two for Kristen, three for Stefania). So, in honor of the movie, we're sharing what we've learned about the benefits and drawbacks to having a longer-than-average engagement.
THE PROS
Time to Build the Life You Want and Prepare for Marriage
One of the best parts of having a long engagement is that it gives you breathing room to focus on your career, get a sense of what your partner will be like as a spouse and decide what you both want for your marriage (living plans, when to have children, etc). It's a commitment towards a future together—one worth waiting for. My fiancé and I decided to get engaged because we were ready to take that next step after dating, but our plans to tie the knot in 2012 were derailed when his physical therapy program added an extra year to their requirements. An extra 365 days is a small price to pay for finding the person I want to spend the rest of my life with! Plus, since we're still relatively young (we're both in our mid-twenties), it gives us a small window of opportunity to enjoy some "me" time before the "we" factor starts to kick in more after we're married, when it's not quite so easy (but still important to spend separate time alone or with friends). — Stefania