I met up with Kate and Cody for their engagement session 3 days before everything shutdown due to Covid… since they were visiting for a few days on a break from life in Texas, we were so lucky to have spent the afternoon exploring Artifact Coffee together and the Clipper Mill and Woodberry industrial buildings before life changed dramatically!

These two are such a beautiful breath of fresh air to be around! Their energy, laughter, lighthearted and easygoing nature made for the most fun candid photos in this location – we had room to walk, explore and admire all of the textures of these historic mill buildings while having the place to ourselves, it seemed.

Here’s how they met and how Cody proposed, in Kate’s words:

“We met in the West Virginia University Drumline. I (Kate) was marching on the cymbal line and Cody was marching on the bass line. He finally noticed I was there in the fall, and we quickly became friends. He asked me on a date by October.

Cody had switched to cymbals on the drumline by this point. I had just completed a practicum for behavior analysis at WVU and was preparing to start my masters at the University of North Texas. He told me he was going to go practice for an upcoming summer camp, and went off to go practice while I was reading something in the living room. About ten minutes later, after hearing strange sounds that didn’t quite sound like practicing, he came back into the living room with a really concerned look on his face and said he though one of the cymbals was broken. I was the drum captain the previous season, so I said I would take a look at it, not realizing he was holding the cymbals together like a clam shell which is not how you typically hold a broken cymbal. When he approached me, he opened the cymbals and my ring was in the middle of the bottom cymbal.”

Their wedding day is going to be full of unconventional and unique details that are meaningful to their relationship (Kate told me her bouquet is going to be made up of musical elements) and will include board / card games for their guests to play and end with a variety of cheesecakes to enjoy as dessert! YESSSS, please!!!

I can’t wait for your wedding at the Riverview at Occuquan in Virginia! It’s a venue I’ve loved since they first opened. Your fun-loving personalities and sense of humor are going to be incredible to photograph during the Fall in this beautifully lit, nature-filled, modern waterfront venue!

Cheers, lovebirds… let’s get you MARRIED!

xo,
Naomi