Fall Batsto Park Engagement

Fall Batsto Park Engagement. I met Aubrey and Dylan this September at one of my favorite locations for an engagement session, Batsto state park. I love the historic village at the Batsto State Park because it offers many fun photo areas. There are old buildings, blue doors, porches, steps, fences, and tall grass. When my couples ask for location ideas, I always mention this location, and I am excited when I get to photograph their session there.

South Jersey Engagement Session

The weather was threatening rain on the day of Aubrey and Dylan’s engagement session. We started their session earlier than planned to try and beat any chance of getting rained on. We had partly cloudy skies, a warm day, and no rain. Yay! My favorite place to start a session in the park is at the blue door of the old General Store. I love the color of the door and the textured walls of that building. From there, we used some of my other favorite spots at the park. Laughing and having fun are always included in the sessions. haha

Practicing posing ahead of time is so vital to the flow of the wedding day. I like to go over most of the poses we will use so that my couples are comfortable with me and my process, and we can achieve natural smiles during all the craziness on wedding days. Aubrey and Dylan snuggled nicely together and rocked the poses. We also had a chance to talk more about their wedding plans and started to put together their timeline.

A long-distance relationship

Aubrey has been best friends with Dylan’s cousin, Courtney, since 9th grade. Courtney would always mention how cute she would look with her cousin in NJ. They first met in the summer of 2014 when Dylan and his family came to visit Courtney, and of course, Aubrey had to be there to meet Dylan, whom she had heard so much about. They talked and hung out for the rest of the week while he was in South Carolina. That fall, they started their senior year of high school by texting and occasionally video chatting. The following year Dylan traveled to SC for Aubrey’s graduation, and she traveled to NJ for his. Aubrey never thought their relationship could be more than just friends because of the long distance between them.

In 2015, Dylan moved to SC, and shortly after that, they started to date. In 2016 Dylan moved back to NJ, and due to school, Aubrey stayed in SC. They had a long-distance relationship for a year and a half, only seeing each other every 6-8 weeks, video chatting every night, and talking to each other throughout the day. In March 2018, Aubrey decided to move to NJ to be with him. Leaving her friends and family was hard, but she knew it would be okay since she and Dylan would be together. In August 2018, they moved into a rental house. In August 2020, they bought their first home together!

With the help of their dogs, Dylan proposed

Dylan had the help of Teddy and Harley, their dogs when he proposed. Aubrey came home from getting groceries and noticed Teddy nudging her arm as she was putting things away in the cabinet. She kept telling him to go away so she could finish, but he wouldn’t leave! Dylan said, “Aubrey, Look, he has something.” She looked, and Teddy had a bandana wrapped around his neck that said, “will you marry my daddy?” As Aubrey walked around the corner, Dylan was on one knee with the ring of her dreams! She started crying and couldn’t get any words out because she was so excited. Once she said yes, her dog Harley came out with a bandana around her that said, “she said yes.”

South Jersey Wedding

These two are getting married next May at Auletto’s in Deptford, NJ. They both love spending time with friends and family and watching movies. When I asked what they love about each other, Aubrey said Dylan is my constant cheerleader and my biggest fan. Dylan loves Aubrey’s smile. They can not wait to marry each other as they are best friends.

I am looking forward to capturing their big day next May. It will surely be a fun day, and their venue is so pretty. My favorite pictures from their session are the ones in the tall grass. Every time I drive into the park, I hope to see that they didn’t mow the field with the tall grass so I can use it during my session. So far this fall, I have been lucky!