Fun and Romantic Engagement Session at Ashland the Henry Clay Estate

Clara and Henry’s engagement session was at Ashland the Henry Clay Estate in downtown Lexington, Kentucky. They had the perfect evening filled with joy and glowy light. Clara and Henry are such a fun and adventurous couple, and we loved getting to hear all about their love story.

Clara and Henry first met in college. Funnily enough, they went to the same high school, and Clara actually knew all of Henry’s friends who went to her middle school. Somehow she just never knew he existed. They first met at a mutual friend’s party in college. Clara was surprised she didn’t know who Henry was, given she knew every single person in his friend group. The first thing Henry asked Clara about was what shows she was into, and Clara brought up the Peaky Blinders. According to Henry, that sealed the deal. He was a huge fan of Peaky Blinder’s at the time and was stunned to find a girl with such great taste in shows. Clara’s connection with Henry was surprising because she had never eased into someone’s presence like the way she had with Henry. There was never a moment of awkwardness between them, and if there was nothing to talk about, they were able to just sit with each other and enjoy the moments around them. He did not gain the courage to ask Clara to be his girlfriend until about a year into seeing each other, but Clara knew what they had was special. She knew when he was ready and confident, he would ask her. Their first date was on Clara’s 18th birthday. After a year of seeing each other, Henry thought it was necessary to finally treat Clara to a dinner date at Bella Notte’s. Together Clara and Henry are huge TV show watchers. It has bonded them since they first met. They love watching series on every TV platform you can think of – Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, Hulu, all of it! Clara and Henry also love spending time with their little family (Beau – 3 years old; Goose their beagle – 3 years old), having family dinners, hanging out at Woodland Park, and spending time outside together.

Henry knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Clara and had been telling her for about a year that they would get married. So Clara was just twiddling her thumbs, waiting for a proposal. She started to nag Henry for months to propose to her. They had been living together for three years, and their relationship was only getting stronger. Clara had been dropping hints here, and there of rings she was into and what places she considered “romantic” (i.e., “please-propose-to-me-here” hints). In the Summer of 2020, they took two trips to the beach, both of which Clara fully anticipated being proposed to on. On the second beach trip, Clara even asked Henry, “Should I be expecting something, or should I relax?” Henry told Clara she needed to relax… but she was anxious to get things going! Come September, Clara figured she would take things into her own hands. Not so much the proposal itself… but providing Henry with a setting and opportunity. Clara booked her and Henry a hotel room for the weekend, telling Henry this would be a fun “getaway” for them – knowing full well Henry would take the opportunity to propose (at least that’s what she was hoping for). So they arrived at the hotel, and things got pretty awkward. Things are NEVER awkward between them, so she knew he must have been pretty nervous. They sat down on the bed, admiring the “ambiance” of the hotel room – which wasn’t much, lol. Clara and Henry were both a little nervous, obviously. Henry kept getting Clara to look out the window at the downtown view, and she just knew he was waiting for the right time to do it. Sure enough, Clara turned around, and he was down on one knee – breaking a sweat – with the most beautiful ring! Clara could tell he had some big speech planned out, but the words “will you marry me” just came flying out of his mouth. Clara eased his conscience with an “of course,” and they finished the night with a steak dinner at the Blue Heron Steakhouse. The ring was Henry’s great-grandmother’s ring which made it even more special. A one of a kind ring that only she has to always remember Henry’s love forever.