Glowing Fall Sunset Engagement Session at Shaker Village in Harrodsburg, KY

Hilary and Stephen’s fall engagement session was at Shaker Village in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. They had an absolutely beautiful fall day. The leaves on the trees were starting to turn all kinds of beautiful reds, oranges, and yellows. We love Shaker Village for all of its historic buildings, white fences, and rolling countryside. The village was so festive with pumpkins, hay bales, corn stalks, and mums. It couldn’t have been a more perfect place to celebrate Hilary and Stephen’s engagement. We had so much fun with Hilary and Stephen and loved hearing about their love story. When Hilary graduated from Clemson in the Spring of 2012 she started grad school in the fall of 2012 at the University of Kentucky. At UK she joined a research lab and ran into Stephen in the hall. She thought that he was so cute and had to be smart since he worked in a research lab. Stephen started to find himself making excuses to leave his normal lunch group and join the cute grad student for lunch across the hall between experiments. They even took long romantic walks to dispose of hazardous waste together. As time progressed they found out ways to hang out with each other even more. Hilary was drawn to Stephen’s sense of humor and easy laugh, his interests and his ability to talk about all kinds of things and subjects. He also had an adorable puppy named Winston! Stephen loved that they could be goofy with each other and talk about all sorts of ideas. She could be bubbly but also show off her snappy attitude. During March Madness of 2013, their research department started a bracket pool. Stephen and Hilary had a bet that if Hilary won he would have to take her out to Grater’s Ice Cream. Hilary ended up beating Stephen but wasn’t sure if he would hold up his end of the bargain but she was hopeful. Of course, he remembered their bet and took her out for ice cream. Grater’s Ice Cream still holds a special place in their hearts and they go there every time to celebrate their anniversary.

Stephen and Hilary planned a hiking trip through southern Utah an northern Arizona for spring break. As they were nearing the end of their trip in Sedona, AZ they hiked to a place called Cathedral Rock. Stephen planned to propose at the top but didn’t feel that the moment was right with the crowded trail and an actual wedding going on at the time. So the next day they enjoyed a relaxing day looking at art shops and lunch downtown. That afternoon they drove some backroads and stopped at a beautiful isolated scenic overlook at sunset. Stephen knew that it was the perfect moment to ask Hilary to marry him and to be his adventure partner for the rest of their lives. Of course, she said yes! We are so excited about their wedding next fall at Spindletop Hall in Lexington, Kentucky. Be sure to check back next year to see the rest of their love story unfold.