Alicia + Mark | Engaged!
Imagine with me: You meet someone online and after some chatting decide to meet in person. You set a place and time, but when you arrive they’re nowhere to be found. What do you do next? Do you sigh, figure you’ve been stood up and then leave? Or do you wait it out and hope they show up? Afterall, the drinks at the restaurant are bomb and it’s nice to be out of the house for a while.
This is exactly how Alicia + Mark’s first date went. They met like most couples do nowadays, on the internet. Alicia + Mark chatted for a couple weeks, then decided it was time to see if there was a spark in person. Mark suggested McMenamins, which lead to a bit of confusion. You see, Mark isn’t from the area and he wasn’t aware how many McMenamins we have here. (I think it’s 5 or 6 in Washington State alone). Alicia’s favorite is Elk’s Temple, and mentioned how she loved it! This was going to be an amazing first date.
And it was. Even though they likely passed each other on the freeway as Alicia headed to Elk’s Temple in Tacoma and Mark headed to The Spar Cafe in Olympia. It wasn’t until Alicia messaged Mark about the parking situation that they both realized there’d been a miscommunication. Luckily for all of us, these two are matched with their laid back demeanors. After a lot of laughing, Alicia agreed to give him a do-over and Mark made the drive back to McMenamin’s Elk’s Temple in Tacoma.
These two are full of fun stories, and they were engaged during a belated birthday party for Mark. Alicia wanted a fun Christmas photo of the two of them, and Mark found this to be the perfect opportunity to pop the question. Of course, Alicia is a giver and she’s always looking out for everyone around her. So, she didn’t want to bother anyone during the party, but Mark and their friend Jessica insisted she “put on the damn sweater” for their Christmas photo. Donned in their best Christmas Sweaters (Alicia’s a penguin Christmas Sweater, and Mark’s a Busch Beer sweater), they prepped for the photo. Alicia was fussing over their friend Phil’s Santa Hat (as he absolutely dressed as the big man himself, Santa), when Mark said her name and she turned to realize the next chapter of their life was beginning.
It should come as no surprise that these two are an incredibly fun couple. I met them in Olympia to celebrate their engagement, and as we walked the trail we chatted for a while. They both brought their own fun personality to the engagement, and I just knew their wedding day was going to end up one of my favorites. Especially at the end of their session, when I always ask couples if there’s anything specific they want posing wise that we didn’t already do. Mark piped up that he wanted to photograph their album cover and set to work posing Alicia and himself. I’ll let you decide which image that is.
Click below to view our favorites from their engagement session!
