One of the best parts of my job is getting to see how all types of couples interact.  Getting to meet and hang with two people who have recently discovered their person in life is pretty great.  Alex & Rob are the absolute best.  The thing that stood out to me right away was how they looked at each other.  They are connected. Constant smiling and laughter.

Seriously.  Look at how they look at each other in these photos.

Alex & Rob met a few years ago at New Mexico State. (Go Aggies!)  Right away Rob liked her but the timing was off.

(That’s code for Alex had a boyfriend.)

Eventually she broke up with the boyfriend.  Then she found ANOTHER boyfriend.  Eventually she broke up with him too and then she started dating Rob.  The end. :)

After college Alex moved to Texas and her and Rob managed to keep their relationship going even though they were in different states.  I asked Alex when she knew it was serious and she told me “I knew it was a big deal when I was willing to spend my minutes and data on him.”  Pure Gold.  I love that their relationship is measured in gigabytes. (Shout out to Verizon!)

Rob told me that what he loved most about Alex is how great and easy their conversations were.  She is super easy to talk to. “It also helps that she’s gorgeous.”

So much joy.  I love this photo.

When I asked Alex what attracted her to Rob she had this to say:

“Rob was the first relationship I was in that encouraged me to have my own space and my own life.  I had always heard ‘They will love you for who you are.’ but never understood it till I met Rob.”

How beautiful is that?

Runaway Bride is one of my wife’s and I’s favorite movies.  She must have watched it 2,573 times in college and so many parts of it mirror our story.  One of my favorite lines is when Richard Gere is talking to his ex wife Rita Wilson about why they broke up and he asks: “Did I just… not see you.”

It is so simple and yet so powerful.  We all have a desire to be seen and to be known.  The thing that makes a relationship work and last is when couples are constantly looking to “see” each other and give each other the freedom to grown and become the full person they were meant to be.

Rob treated Alex this way and it filled her with life.  By encouraging her to be herself, she grew as a person and in turn was more drawn and attracted to him.   (Smart play on Rob’s part.)

Now they look at each other like this.  That’s pretty great.

When they are not looking into each others eyes with 100% pure love, they like to make awkward faces at each other.

And because of course why not champagne?

Thank you guys for a great morning and I can’t wait for your New Mexico wedding.

Brooke & Justin are the type of people that you feel totally at ease 12 seconds into meeting them.  Justin is a football coach at SMU and Brooke works in the recruiting department.  We had a great time going all over campus taking these photos.  Also, I’ve photographed dozens of couples on dozens of campuses across Texas…  shout out to Brooke for getting us the hook up and having a golf cart for us to drive around in.  25 cool bride points earned.

Amanda & Bob are the type of people that 15 seconds into meeting them, you wish you had met them sooner.  Easy to talk to, honest, and totally real.  My only regret with their session was that it only lasted an hour.  I would much rather have spent a whole evening with them. :)

They met while working at Lowe’s in the paint department.  Bob told me that he was about to move out to Lawn & Garden, and quickly realized he only had 1 month to “train” her.  I guess the training worked because after 6 years of dating, here we are.

During their session Amanda mentioned to me that one of the things that attracted her to Bob was how genuine he is.  It’s so true though, he oozes honesty. I loved seeing them interact and when she would ask for an opinion on something, he would give it, but he always made sure that she felt valued and heard throughout the session.  Such a great quality.

Bob’s favorite thing about Amanda is how thoughtful she is.  “She thinks about people a lot.  She cares.”

You see that folks?  That’s how you pick a spouse.  You find someone who is honest, who is genuine.  You look for someone with a heart that bends towards people and has them on their mind.

You find someone like that, and you’ll find someone worth marrying.

Amanda & Bob did. :)

Natalee & Josh met while they were at SMU.  They are totally getting married.  Their engagement session consisted of two locations.

Location 1: Give the parents photos that they will like.

Location 2: Give Josh a reason to tackle Natalee.  (Did I mention that Josh played football for SMU and is a super huge dude that could crush me with his left arm?)

Thank you guys for a fun afternoon and for sneaking/getting me into the stadium. ;)

Kaylan & Trent are my favorite kind of people.  The kind who don’t take themselves too seriously.  So when she proposed a State Fair engagement session I was all in.  When she said, she wanted to make sure and get some gross things like old corn dogs in the photos I knew we would be best friends.  AND.  When she told me she is going to have a carnival themed wedding I was like… let’s hurry up and get to the wedding.  :)  Consider this a practice session for the “real photos” to come next month.  You guys were a blast.