Engagement Photos at Shaker Village in Harrodsburg, KY

When we first met Emily and Braden we loved the sound of their sweet country church wedding in Harrodsburg, KY. Braden is a children’s pastor at his local church in Arkansas not far from where I (Anna) went to college. It was so much fun talking with him about Horseshoe Canyon Ranch and other famous places in Arkansas. Emily currently works in Harrodsburg as a teacher. We loved how sweet and genuine they both were. We were so excited when they decided to have us capture their special day. Emily and Braden both love the outdoors and so we knew Shaker Village would be a perfect place for their engagement session. During their engagement photos, we even got to meet their sweet puppy, Paisley. For some of the photos, Emily and Braden sported their home team rival shirts Arkansas and Kentucky. Paisley, their dog, even had a Kentucky shirt. We are hoping that Emily can convince Braden to leave the dark side and become a Kentucky fan.

Emily and Braden met not by chance but by fate. Braden created an account on Christian Mingle but hadn’t had any luck finding anyone that he shared much in common with. Emily had just created an account when Braden came across her picture. He thought that she was beautiful and realized that they had a lot of things in common. He mustered up the courage to say hello and see if she was interested in getting to know one another. Emily quickly responded, and they immediately started getting to know each other. The crazy thing is that mathematically the numbers didn’t make sense for them to meet. They had both had their profiles set to about 50-100 miles reach, but for some reason, God had other plans. Emily was living in Kentucky and Braden in Arkansas.

As they started to talk via FaceTime for several weeks Emily and Braden realized they had a connection. So they decided they should meet in person. In July they planned to meet halfway between Arkansas and Kentucky in St. Louis. Braden was so nervous sitting in the lobby of the hotel imagining over and over what it would be like to see Emily walk in. A moment later Emily walked in and their eyes locked followed with a big hug from Emily. Since Emily had never been to St. Louis before Braden decided to plan a weekend full of fun things to do. They visited the St. Louis Arch, a broadway production of Mama Mia, the city museum, and a Cardinal’s baseball game.

Later that fall Braden knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Emily. After spending time with Braden’s family in Arkansas they both decided that they were both looking for a relationship to find their future spouse. Braden decided that a trip to Kentucky would be the perfect opportunity to ask Emily’s father for her hand in marriage and to get to know her family over Thanksgiving break. During his visit, Braden took Emily to the Pinnacles hiking trail in Berea, KY. He knew he would propose at one of the overlooks. As soon as they got to an overlook Braden gave Emily a gift. It was a book Braden had made that listed all of the things that he loved about her. The last page had a stick figure of Braden down on one knee saying will you marry me. When Emily turned around she found Braden down on one knee. To which Emily replied,“YES! YES, OF COURSE!” They went to a UK game later that night and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. We are so excited for their wedding in Harrodsburg this summer at Emily’s hometown church. Make sure to check back in June to see their wedding day story! Dog standing by a stone wall during an engagement session at Shaker Village in Harrodsburg, KY.