Rachel and Sean Engagement Session - Clemson, South Carolina
Rachel and Sean met when they were both studying for their undergraduate degrees at Clemson University. Rachel was a Marketing Major and Sean was studying to be a Chemical Engineer (think: beer brewer). They both belonged to a community service organization: Alpha Phi Omega. They became friends after a while, and the romance slowly developed until culminating one night on the top balcony at Backstreets Pub and Grill in Downtown Clemson. Rachel wanted to dance but her friends all denied her request: except Sean. They danced the night away and soon after confessed their feelings. The rest, as they say it, is history.
Now, I had an inkling the two were fated to be together before this all went down. My first guess came from this picture, taken a year before they got together:
I do not have rights to the above photo (it’s straight from Rachel’s Instagram), I do, however, have rights to the prediction that they were destined to be together ;)
Now doesn’t that look like two kids, destined to fall in love get married have babies and grow old together sipping a locaL IPA on the front porch and watching their grandkids play? No? Just me? Whatever, I stand by it.
Anyway, Sean FINALLY proposed and I told Rachel there was absolutely no way she was getting out of taking engagement photos. We started putting together a beautiful sunrise session for the morning after the Clemson vs. Wofford Game in October of 2019. Together we figured out their location (Clemson Rowing Docks Dikes), their outfits, their props, and what their cheesy but adorable sign would say (#MayIHaveThisNance or, as it later came to be, #MA I have this Nance!). We planned everything together to a T and we were SO excited (well I was, at least. Rachel hates having her photos taken and I was determined to prove to her it could be SO much fun. Spoiler: I won that battle). Only we didn’t think about 2 important details:
Daylight savings time- spring forward/fall back? The sun would be rising an hour earlier than we had initially planned. When did we realize this? At a bar at 10pm the night before. 5am was coming up veeeeery quickly.
The weather in Clemson, South Carolina NEVER behaves how you want it to.
We woke up that Sunday morning at 5am (after a football game- OUCH) to find the entirety of Clemson, SC shrouded in the thickest fog I swear I had ever seen in my life. We thought the whole shoot was going to be ruined and that our 5am wakeup call was for nothing. But we powered through and used what we had to tell a great story: Sean and Rachel’s crazy love for one another. And let me tell you, their romantic vibe was thicker and steamier than the fog ever dreamed to be. Check out some of our favorites from the session:
