Style, love, and tons of fun are what’s in store for today’s engagement feature! Gabrielle and Justin are adorable together, and their super sweet love story is just the icing on the cake. Their location selections are absolutely perfect, as they stop to take photos at Philadelphia University, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (so Philly!). Thanks to Nikki and Chip Photography, who gracefully captured the budding romance of this utterly loving couple (plus their super cute puppy), we’re sharing all of the beautiful memories from this special day!
From the Bride-to-be: “Nikki & Chip are a professional wife and husband wedding photographers that capture New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and destination weddings. They are located in Jackson, New Jersey and they love to travel. However, this engagement shoot was the first time they had photographed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.”
How They Met:
“Justin and I met Spring 2012 at Madriver, a bar in Manayunk, through mutual friends. He was a junior and I was a senior just graduating in a few short weeks. Although we both attended Philadelphia University neither of us knew about each other until we met that day! Hard to believe since I was the captain of the women’s soccer team … just kidding 😉 His good looks were definitely the reason why we started talking that day however I quickly realized that this relationship we started to build was something different and special. There was something about him and I knew that how I felt about him so early was an indication that this would not be like anything I had in the past. And I think he felt the same.”
The Proposal:
“Justin proposed January 10, 2016 in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Justin had arranged this long weekend vacation as my Christmas present. As you probably know it is really hard to keep anything a secret now a days considering it is necessary to have real life conversations about the future, etc. So did I know that we were eventually going to get engaged, yes. But was totally surprised when he did propose in Florida because it was almost midnight!! Justin had been super nervous all day about popping the question, the ring was tucked away in his pocket since 10AM that morning when he had left the hotel for a day full of adventures. Not until we were about to leave the rooftop lounge that he had asked our waitress to take a picture of us over by the balcony overlooking the bay. Thanks to our waitress we have the whole proposal on video! One of the best weekends of my life.”
Engagement Session Inspiration:
“We decided to take our engagement session pictures in Philadelphia for a few special reasons. For one Philadelphia is where we first met and where we are currently live to this day. I had thought that after graduation from Philadelphia University I would move back to New Jersey and commute to PhilaU for my masters as I had never really had a great connection with Philly while I lived there for undergrad. I have to give credit to Justin because he is the reason I truly began to experience what Philadelphia had to offer. Our relationship and love blossomed in Philadelphia and I will always be grateful for all the experiences we had in this city that brought us closer. Although I had lived in Philadelphia for 4 years before I met Justin it was like reliving it all over again. I never ended up moving back to New Jersey but I will always be a Jersey Girl at heart! So when thinking about locations for our engagement pictures Philadelphia University was definitely a must because we are both proud to be alumni of Philadelphia University. With the current transition of the school and merge with Thomas Jefferson we knew we wanted memories we could hold onto forever. It is absolutely amazing that Nikki and Chip were blown away with all the different locations we could shoot on campus. We were stopping every few minutes at a new spot to shoot!
“Our second location we decided on was the Art Museum because it is a well known Philly landmark and we wanted to capture our love in the city where it all began. We had a little fun at the end with a little ode to Rocky on the museum steps!! I have to say I was completely blown away with the time and effort Nikki and Chip put into our engagement session and as well completely amazed by all the beautiful spots we shot in the city of Philadelphia!! Although we may not live forever in Philadelphia I am glad we will always have a piece of Philadelphia with us and all the memories these pictures hold.”
Photography: Nikki & Chip Photography | Location: Philadelphia University, Philadelphia Museum of Art