Marci & Mike’s Portsmouth Engagement Session

Booking wedding photography through referrals is so much fun. You’re assured that a couple liked you and your work and has the trust in you to refer your services to their family and friends. This is truly exciting and encouraging at the same time. But photographing cousins with their respective partners without one knowing that the other has also booked the same photographer is a different kind of thrill. I’m not kidding! I had this amazing experience recently when one of my brides mentioned my name on her social media account, and my other bride, who happened to be her cousin, noticed it. Woah! What a kismet connection it was! So, Marci and Brittney are cousins. I photographed Marci and Mike’s (Michael) engagement session in Portsmouth and am going to document Brittney and Nick’s wedding in September. Both these sisters had booked me entirely oblivious to the fact that the other cousin had done the same. It wasn’t until Brittney brought up my name on social media that the dots were connected that I was shooting both their weddings. Oh! I can’t even express how wonderful I feel about it. So, I had already photographed Brittney and Nick’s engagement portraits, and now, it was Marci and Mike’s turn to get stunning engagement pictures. And what fun we had as we created the images together. The gorgeous backdrops that Portsmouth had on offer made my work more interesting and kept us in a relaxed frame of mind.

Marci & Mike’s Story

Marci is a patient coordinator in an MRI department, and Michael is a senior security engineer. They are so awesome and truly made for each other. To get to know them better and understand their vision for their engagement photography, I asked them a few questions, just like I always do for all my other couples. And the answers I got were so sweet and lovely. When I asked the bride-to-be about her first meeting with Mike, here’s what she told me, “My friend Lindsey set me up with Michael. We met for the first time on May 5, 2018. We did go to high school together but did not really know each other. We met at a La Caretta and had some wonder margaritas! Michael had no idea I was going until he sat down, and they left an open seat for me. The rest is history!” Awww!!! Marci and Mike, that’s an interesting start if you ask me!

Gushing about her first date, the gorgeous bride-to-be said, “We went for pizza at 900 Degrees in Manchester. We were both really nervous to go. But we had such a nice time once we got there. I remember Michael saying he got ready at his brother’s house because he didn’t want to answer all of his mom’s questions about where he was going. LOL. I just remember our conversation flowing so easily. It was like we knew each other for a while but didn’t.” Mike, now that’s some smart planning for your first date with Marci. And to know how comfortably you two connected gives me so much joy.

The proposal story of my beautiful couple is as adorable as that of their first date. Marci said, “Michael proposed to me on October 29, 2021, on South Beach in Marco Island, Florida. My parents and his mom were there to witness it all. It was a normal day until he said he wanted to go and get a new sun shirt. He thought we were going out on the boat for an afternoon and didn’t want to get burnt. When we tried to go out, the boat wasn’t working. So we decided to go to the beach for the sunset. I had just taken a photo of him looking out into the sunset. I then decided to get my feet wet. When I turned around, he was down on one knee! I kept saying are you serious?!!? I had no idea. I was so in shock I didn’t know what to do.” Oh yeah! That was one surprise proposal accomplished there!

From then to now, Marci and Mike have spent a lot of time together. Talking about all the things they love to do in each other’s company, Marci told me, “We like to attend breweries with our friends and hang out. We also have a bad habit of attending hobby lobby or Marshalls together. He says he doesn’t like them, but he really deep down does. We also love to snuggle on the couch and watch our shows.” Man!!! That is so adorable! Besides this, the radiant bride-to-be shared with me how she sometimes annoys Mike with her quirky habits. “I have an annoying habit of always keeping the house picked up. Michael doesn’t accept that at all, but it’s just something I do before I go to bed. Michael also thinks I am a little crazy for getting all the snacks for our road trips to New York. To him, that is not a road trip. To me, anything over 2 hours, you need snacks and drinks,” Marci revealed. Well! I’d say, there’s got to be something to add spice to this sweet love story and keep the fun going!

Speaking of their wedding plans, Marci said, “I feel really good where we are at with the wedding plans. The last thing to do is order suites and find Michael’s mom a dress. I am slowly getting the centerpieces done. I am trying to get ahead of them. So, I am not cramming, in the end, to get stuff together. I am a planner, so I have a timeline I am trying to stick with.” “I am planning the wedding, but, I would say, Michael has a big part. Going into it, I thought I was going to make most of the decisions when it came to decorations. But I am pleasantly surprised with how involved he is. He has some pretty amazing ideas that I had never thought about. He also has A LOT more patience than I do when it comes to putting stuff together,” she added.

About the kind of wedding they want, Marci told me, “Michael and I are both very into Christmas. I love the reds and the greens. The Christmas vision has such a diverse look. We are going for a warm and inviting nature. Another way to describe what I am looking for in the vision is simple. Bedford has so much character already in itself, and you add Christmas to it. It is exactly what I want.”

Light And Airy Engagement Session in Portsmouth, NH

Just like my couple’s love story and their wedding plans, I found their engagement session in Portsmouth to be perfect. The efforts these two put in to make this session count was so endearing. Be it their looks for the shoot or their choice of spots for the pictures – everything was outstanding! Witnessing Marci and Mike enjoy their time together, take a stroll, hold hands, embrace, and kiss each other was such a joy. If anyone had seen them at that moment, they’d have immediately known how deeply in love these two are with each other. While I photographed Marci and Mike, I just knew my couple was having a good time and in high spirits. This didn’t just make my work easier but also rewarding. Photographing them against waterfront views, around some greenery, and imposing architecture that would give one a glimpse into the beautiful life of this port city was so much fun. Marci and Mike’s smiles and comfort in front of the camera helped me highlight their personalities better and create pictures exactly as we had envisioned – exquisite and superbly romantic.

Enjoy Engagements With K. Lenox Photography

Marci and Mike, you two are such sweethearts, and photographing your engagement session was an honor. I want to thank you for choosing me to be your photographer and hope to see you two and my other couple, Brittney and Nick, celebrating each other’s special day in style. You can’t imagine how excited I am about covering both of your weddings. It feels so dreamy and magical to be capturing the special moments in the lives of two cousins and turning their milestones into memories they can cherish forever.

Marci and Mike, I also wish you two have the warm Christmas vibes you want on your big day. And I really appreciate the wedding planning advice Marci shared for future brides. This is what she said: “My most important info for future brides is to ask for your groom’s opinion. They most likely had thought about it and just didn’t share it. And that it’s their day too. So they need to be heard with what they want.” I agree! Marci, those are some meaningful and helpful words out there.

To all my readers, if you enjoyed reading Marci and Mike’s story and liked the images I took, I’ve got more light and airy photos for you here. You could check out the photos from Brittney and Nick’s Engagement Session and Courtney and Joe’s Spruce Park Engagement Session. If you are looking for some mountain wedding venues in New Hampshire, you can check out this blog. And if you or someone else you know is looking for a similar photography experience, you can contact me! In case of questions, you can drop me an email or call me at (603) 703-2626. To see more of my work, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.