Katie & Josh Moraine Hills State Park Engagement

How they met

Katie and Josh both left their corporate jobs to pursue a mutual passion — health and fitness. They met at their first job as personal trainers. moraine hills state park engagement

How they fell in love

These two lovebirds started off just as coworkers, but then eventually became really good friends. They had lots in common and always had a good time together. Neither of them had seen The Office before, so they decided to start watching the show together on their lunch breaks at work. As the show went on, Katie and Josh developed a running joke that they were Jim and Pam in real life. Near the end of the show, Jim and Pam share a line that they hope people watching don’t wait as long to get together as they did — that’s actually what inspired Josh to ask Katie out on their first date, and they’ve been together ever since! moraine hills state park engagement

How he proposed

Katie and Josh wanted a little getaway during COVID-19 pandemic, so they took a trip to Las Vegas, NV, where Josh surprised her with a room at the Bellagio overlooking the fountains. The room was covered in flower petals and he put together all sorts of desserts and wine from her favorite places. Josh arranged the whole scene so it coordinated with the fountains going off in the background!

The Moraine Hills State Park Engagement Session

We planned Katie and Josh’s Moraine Hills State Park engagement session for the tail end of summer, and the weather did not disappoint. We enjoyed a perfectly pleasant Friday afternoon together exploring the park. Moraine Hills State Park was a new engagement session location for me, and I had so much fun discovering beautiful new trails and views walking with Katie and Josh.

Katie and Josh nailed their outfits! I especially loved Josh’s sportcoat! Gentlemen, if you’re reading this post, consider bringing a sportcoat or light jacket to your engagement session as it’s such a versatile accessory — layering outfits is such a great way to create variety in your engagement images, especially during these unusual times when pandemic restrictions often prevent access to public restrooms. If you’re interested in even more outfit tips, check out my guide on how to dress your best for your engagement session.

This couple brought a unique and beautiful personal touch to their Moraine Hills State Park engagement session — a bottle of wine and a matching set of custom-etched wine glasses. Katie and Josh had their glasses etched with the date of their engagement and a blue teapot, a call-back to Jim and Pam’s story from the office. With golden sunlight peeking through the trees on our shaded walking trail, Katie and Josh finished their engagement session by toasting to their new future as husband and wife!

Q&A With the Couple

What are you most excited about for your wedding?

With the pandemic going on we found out very early on in the planning process how difficult it was going to be to plan a big event when weddings from this year were pushed back and we really didn’t want to wait years to get married. So, we actually decided that we are going to elope to Italy next September with just our immediate family. We figured we can have a big reception with everyone when everything calms down a bit here. So we are just very excited that this is going to be multiple adventures in one. We get to go explore some new countries and also start life as a married couple. We also like how intimate it will be having our closest family there with us.

Your love story is made into a movie… What is the title?

Love By Chance.

Describe your relationship in 5 words.

Balanced, supportive, strong, happy, gratifying. moraine hills state park engagement

What is something that means the most to both of you?

Family is the most important thing to both of us. We both come from very close-knit families. We not only were accepted and became apart of each other’s families, but we have also become our own family and can’t wait to grow that in years to come.

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