katie + jake, engagement photos at Hawk Meadow Park in Lansing, Michigan

I am pretty sure I say this after every single session, no matter the session type, but Katie's and Jake's engagement session in Lansing, Michigan was a DREAM. We had so much fun together while wandering around Hawk Meadow Park. The session was magic, with golden light and even some beautiful feathered friends!

Katie and I have known each other for years now. We lived together throughout college, we worked together at Disney, and I’ll be in hers and Jake’s wedding this Fall. She has talked me down many times, has lectured me about boys, has listened to my rants, and has had several "dance parties" with me. Heck, she even used to keep a path cleared in her room so that when I talked on the phone, I could pace in and out of her it!

This blog post though, is not about how amazing and important Katie is to me. It is about Katie and Jake and their beautiful relationship. Katie and Jake met through a mutual friend almost immediately after Katie moved home from Florida. They instantly hit it off. Soon enough, Katie was sending me sappy Facebook messages about Jake and how wonderful their relationship was.

the proposal

Fast forward a couple of years after the two of them met, and Jake was planning the perfect proposal for Katie.

Of course, being that Katie was never really interested in being proposed to with an actual engagement ring, Jake had his work cut out for him. He took several of Katie’s interests and mashed them together into a beautiful and unique piece of custom-made art: a globe. The globe was designed by Bellerby and Co. Globe Company based out of London, England.

Katie is a map girl and a Disney girl. She loves Alice in Wonderland. And, her ideal proposal involved a ring pop instead of a diamond ring. These are the interests that Jake put together for her on this globe. The globe, obviously, stemmed from Katie’s love of maps. But on the globe is where you will find everything else. Jake had Bellerby and Co. draw a delicate red ring pop around where he lives with Katie in Michigan. He had Alice in Wonderland quotes such as, “We’re all mad here,” written around the globe’s equator. Each of the Disney castles from all around the world were also sketched onto the globe. Seeing it in person, it is truly such a beautiful masterpiece. Everything is drawn out with such care and detail. The globe itself is solidly built and smooth.

Katie and Jake with Katie's "engagement ring"

This is not where Jake’s planning ended though. Once the globe was shipped from London to Michigan, Jake had to figure out how to hide the large box from Katie. He employed his friends to help him with this. They held onto the globe until the time was right while Jake continued to work on his proposal plans which consisted of constructing a large ring box to fit the globe in. He sneakily designed and built the wooden ring box right in his workshop at Katie's and Jake's house, claiming that he was building a stand for their friends who just bought pet rats whenever Katie asked.

As for the actual act of proposing, Jake had this all worked out nicely too. Katie and Jake went out for dinner one night with their friends (the ones who had been holding onto the globe this entire time). His friends asked Jake to come out to their car to grab something, and when they came back in the restaurant, Jake had the globe in the ring box ready to present to Katie! Even better yet, the day that they went out for dinner also happened to be Katie's and Jake's anniversary!

the lansing engagement session

Now, I already said it, but Katie and Jake’s session was perfect. We met up just before golden hour to provide plenty of time to talk and walk in between photos. Like always, my guaranteed session time acted as the minimum amount of time to spend together, and we ended up running past golden hour and into dusk. It was worth it though!

We laughed so, so much! Of course we did though, because not only did I have Katie and Jake play a couple of mini games that I love for loosening things up and bringing out some genuine smiles during engagement sessions, but Katie had also requested to do several silly photos as well. We spent the session going from happy, sweet moments to goofy faces to incredible bouts of laughter. Watching Katie and Jake be silly together and make each other laugh was not a let down. In fact, it was definitely one of the best parts of the day!

Towards the end of the session, when golden hour was quickly approaching, we found ourselves in a more heavily forested area. The light filtering through the trees was striking, and while the mosquito population was INSANE (I don't remember the last time I had so many bites!), the sparkling evening made staying in this shaded area completely worth it.

As the forest grew darker and we were wrapping up our golden hour photos, we were visited by two feathered friends! Two beautiful owls flew into the swampy area behind where I was standing to take photos! One landed in the trees above the water and one on the ground. I had to stop taking photos of Katie and Jake in that moment. It was just so amazing to see these great birds. I think we were all in awe. As I crept away from Katie and Jake to try and take a closer photo of the owls, Jake jokingly called to me, "Hey, we are paying you to take photos of us!" This was followed shortly with a, "Just kidding. We definitely want these photos too!"

What a memorable moment! Engagement sessions are already so special, but to throw something like this into the mix was absolutely incredible.

I can only hope that all of my couples have as much fun during their sessions as I do. It was such an honor to take photos of Katie and Jake, and I am honored to be continuing to play a role in Katie's life. She is such a wonderful friend. She has brought so much joy into my life and into many others, and I am grateful that she has Jake to return some of that joy to her now.

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A few of my typical side notes:

• Schedule your engagement session with Pábitel Photography today!

• I am currently booking all of the sessions! Contact me to learn more, or check out the session types listed below "services" at the top of this page. Remember, I need to make it to 12 sessions this year!

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• Read about my engagement session with Kelly and Calvin!