Mariah and Matt’s fall engagement session was at Shaker Village in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. They brought along with them their cute corgi puppy Beans. Beans even had the cutest coffee beans collar to go along with his name. He not only stole the session but our hearts as well. All the leaves on the trees were turning so many gorgeous shades of red, yellow, and orange. Shaker Village looked like a painting with the fallen leaves, pumpkins, and historic houses. Mariah was the maid of honor for one of our previous brides Courtney. We were so excited when we found out she got engaged. We loved meeting and getting to know her sweet Matt. We could quickly see that they perfect for each other. Their session was filled with so much laughter and joy. We felt right away that we were great friends with Mariah and Matt. Beans definitely helped with the laughing being a constant source of cuteness.
Matt and Mariah decided to both join a site called datemyschool.com. It is a site for only college students to meet other college students. Matt’s first message stuck with Mariah because it was one of the cheesiest pickup lines ever, “Do you know what my shirt’s made out of? Boyfriend material.” The pickup line worked and she started talking with Matt. After a week of talking online and getting to know each other, they decided to meet up. They met at EKU’s campus Java City Coffee Shop. They both instantly felt a spark. Their date lasted a couple of hours with a nice conversation until Matt had to attend his night class. For their first official date, they went on a haunted hayride and played zombie paintball. The phone calls, messages, and meetup only continued as they dated for 4 years.
Three years ago Matt discovered that the Solar Eclipse would be happening nearby on August 21, 2017. Matt knew that it was when he wanted to propose to Mariah. So they planned a trip to Clarksville, TN which was in the line of totality for the eclipse. It was also where they had taken their first road trip together to pick up Mariah’s family pet during their first couple weeks of dating. They rented an Air BnB in Clarksville to get the best view of the eclipse. Matt was so excited as he planned the trip but Mariah had no idea just how special it was going to be. They made a shadow box to use before totality. Matt slipped a piece of paper inside saying, “Mariah Dawn Adkins, Will You Marry Me?” Matt asked Mariah to look into the box right before totality. As she looked down she started to tear up and turned around to find Matt down on one Knee. He asked her to marry him to which she, of course, said yes! A minute later everything went dark and they took in the full eclipse together. It was the most magical proposal full of excitement, thoughtfulness. They took many beautiful pictures to remember it by.
