NC Wedding Photographer – Melissa and Samir

Melissa and Samir are a quiet couple.  They don’t love the limelight.

I was a little surprised when they chose downtown Alexandria at the waterfront to begin their engagement session, since it is always so crowded in that area.

It turns out the the quaint atmosphere and cobblestone streets were beautiful enough to put them at ease and we spent the first part of our session strolling downtown dreaming about one day owning a townhouse by the water with a parking spot.

As I got to know Melissa and Samir it became clear that they are perfectly content just to be together.  Give them some space and a place near the water and their connection cannot help but shine through.

I can’t wait to celebrate your wedding with you tomorrow Melissa and Samir!

 

Tell me how you met.  Where were you?  What were you doing?  What did you each think when you first saw the other person?

We met on eHarmony in 2009, dated for a while, then went separate ways. We reconnected in January 2014 and have been together since.

 

Tell me about your first date.  Where did you go?  Who picked the place?  Was it a huge success or did it have its challenges?

We met for brunch in Arlington. He was a few minutes late because he ran the Cherry Blossom race earlier in the morning and I remember being nervous that he’d changed his mind. But as soon as he got there, things went well and we hit it off. I just asked Sameer what he remembers about that day – he remembers thinking I was cute and he even remembers I was wearing a blue dress. Don’t tell, but I don’t remember what he was wearing. 🙂

Tell me the story of your proposal.  Where and when did it happen?  Were you surprised?  Was it an impromptu decision or had it been all planned out to the smallest detail?

We got engaged during a trip to California in May 2016. We spent some time in Sonoma, then drove down the Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Monica where we were meeting up with friends. I wondered at the very beginning of the trip about a proposal, but we had talked about doing that later in the fall, so I didn’t spend much time thinking about it, especially after day 2. We spent a night midway down the PCH in a cute beach town, Cambria, where we splurged for a room with a beach view. I unknowingly messed up
Sameer’s plan to propose at sunset on the beach since I made us late (too much stopping to take pictures) and it was dark when we arrived. So, Sameer had to come up with Plan B.

The hotel delivers hot coffee and homemade croissants from a neighborhood bakery to your door every morning. As we wrapped up eating I turned away to clean up and Sameer asked if I was ready for the next leg of our journey. Meanwhile I yammered on about being almost ready, but that we still needed to clean up and finish packing. Only when I turned around and saw him with the ring did I figure out what he meant. OUR journey, not the road trip!

I was so shocked and for reasons unknown to me I said “Are you sure?” But I quickly recovered and said yes!

It was a wonderful moment and even more fun that we had a few hours to digest and then met up with two of his closest friends and their families so we could celebrate this amazing event with some of the people we love most.

 

Some of our favorite things to do together are: Going on our friend’s boat, dreaming about our future house on the water, going on walks through our neighborhood and down the hill to dinner, watching PBS mysteries and Antiques Roadshow (don’t laugh!). We also both really like art and design, so we like looking at house interiors and art.

 

 

Our favorite place that we have visited is: Definitely our California trip driving down the PCH. It was absolutely beautiful from start to finish.

 

 

The thing that I like best about us as a couple is: Being at ease with each other. We clicked right away and are just really comfortable together. We’re both pretty laid back and we both appreciate that there’s no drama in the relationship.

 

 

Our favorite local place to eat is: Café Pizzaiolo – it’s a low-key pizza and beer place that
we can walk to. One of those places where the bartender knows your name and you end
up talking to everyone at the bar a few minutes in to sitting down. Always fun.

 

Where and when do you feel most comfortable and in love with your fiancé?  Is it a place, an activity?

We love being near water and no matter where we are, being near it seems to make us feel really connected to one another.

One of our friends has a boat and we love joining him for day trips up and down the Potomac and we also like taking short or day trips to places on the water (Annapolis, St. Michaels, etc.). It puts us both at ease, and we can focus on us and not be distracted with thoughts of work and life.

We are determined to one day have a house on the water and we have LOTS of conversations about what it
will be like!

What part of your wedding are you most looking forward to?

Celebrating with our friends and loved ones.

What part are you most nervous about?

Being the center of attention. We are both pretty nervous about having all eyes on us. Maybe that should be really nervous…