From opposite ends of the country, Aaron and Carianne were brought together during their internships at competing firms in Texas.  Aaron often hung out with the crowd Carianne ran around with and his friend was actually trying to pursue her before Aaron caught her eye.  They met at a McAllister’s and really just “clicked” from the beginning.  After two years of dating long distance, Aaron finally asked Carianne to marry him on Valentine’s Day.  After he opened his anniversary gift (yes, their dating anniversary is Valentine’s Day) of camping gear, he gave her a box that a sweet note inside attached to a smaller box, that had a sweet note inside attached to a smaller box, that had a sweet note inside attached to a smaller box until she discovered something she really was not expecting: a beautiful ring and Aaron’s vow to love her forever.  She said yes and the two are planning a May wedding that I am so excited to be a part of!

These two adore each other’s company and the great outdoors.  With this in mind, we chose to shoot their wedding engagement photography session at Lost Maples State Park.  Having feverishly followed the fall foliage report that the park puts out every Monday, we moved their shoot date up two whole weeks to ensure that we were able to include all the beautiful reds and oranges that the leaves provided.  (The only other weekend available, the two already had SKYDIVING plans to celebrate their upcoming “taking the plunge” commitment to one another.)

While Dylan doesn’t usually go with me on engagement shoots, he insisted on going with me to this one, as the drive was beautiful and he refused to leave my side on our vacation.  As we parked the car, he told me tents weren’t allowed ANYWHERE at the park, except at designated areas.  I pointed out an “illegal” tent that he quickly justified as being in a designated area (the park hands you a map when you get there with everything clearly marked).  Stepping out of the car, I started walking towards a patrolling park ranger when Dylan reminded me that it was better to seek forgiveness than to ask for permission.  Since we changed the date so last-minute, all the camping sites had already been reserved at the park.  We decided to set up tent anyway!  No sooner did we have the cover on when a 7 ft park ranger started to approach us.  I sweetly explained that we were shooting an engagement session for two lovebirds who had driven 9 hours that weekend just to be there because the park was just so gorgeous and we had been following the foliage report for weeks.  It just so happened that this park ranger was the one who took all the photos for that very report!  He was so nice and told me where the best leaves were.  He even let me know that moving the tent a few yards would put more reds and oranges in the photos.  It also helped that he was a dog lover and I had this sweet girl on the leash when chatting with him:

To see even more of their engagement session at Lost Maples, please check out their slideshow at: http://carianneaaron.mylahrenae.com/

Thank you so much, Aaron and Carianne, for trusting me with your engagement photos and for letting me share them!  I’m so very happy for the both of you and cannot wait to see everything come together for your wedding day – it sounds absolutely perfect!

– Mylah Renae

Austin Wedding Photographer

www.Eureka-Photography.com