This Notre Dame engagement session makes me love engagement sessions so much more. The lovely Erika Delgado Photography did such a wonderful job capturing the love between these two at the school they met at. Thank you Erika for sharing this engagement session with us!
From the couple: Erika happily agreed to fly up to Chicago to take our engagement pictures at Notre Dame where Greg and I met. We knew we wanted to take our pictures at some of our favorite spots around campus. We have so many memories of taking long walks around the lakes, talking about anything and everything. I knew I wanted to take pictures where we first kissed on the steps of my dorm, and Greg wouldn’t leave without taking some last minute shots in front of the football stadium! I loved spending the day with Greg reminiscing around campus, and the fact that Erika and Flynn (her fiancé and our DJ!) shared that day with us made it all the more perfect.
Their love story: As told by the Groom: Tina and I met during our college years at the University of Notre Dame. For those of you who don't know, Notre Dame is where everything amazing happens, and Tina is constantly competing with their football team for my affection. I asked Tina to have TVs at the wedding to watch Notre Dame play, but that didn't go over so well. Anyways, back to the story. We met briefly during Tina's freshman year; I thought she was very pretty, and obviously Tina thought I was rockin' good looking too. That was really the extent of it at that point in time. We saw each other randomly over the next three years until Tina's senior year, when I really turned on the charm. During the summer between Tina's junior and senior year, I decided that I was going to date her, but my friends laughed and didn't take me seriously, saying "Haha, ok yea. Whatever." I knew that Tina was worth pursuing, and that she was something I would fight for regardless of how long it took. It was a good thing I decided that early on, because man did it take a while. Over the next couple of months, I would text Tina little things here and there, but Tina kept her distance because she was focusing on her internship and having a good summer with her friends in Miami. I continued to keep in touch and we happened to run into each other at Chipotle the day Tina returned to Notre Dame. I still actively pursued her, but Tina was intent on being "just good friends." I didn't want to end up in the "friend zone," so when she invited me over to watch a movie, and then invited one of her other friends to watch it too, I left halfway through the movie. After that, we would hang out frequently during the week and take walks around campus. One night, I decided to take a gamble and kiss Tina, but she turned her head and rejected me. I know what you're thinking, "who would reject a kiss from Greg?!" Well, Tina, that's who, but she still agreed to go on a walk with me, and about halfway through I noticed Tina wanted to kiss me. I made her wait though, as recompense for her initial rejection. At the end of the walk, I escorted Tina to her dorm and was ready to call it a night. I gave her a hug and sarcastically said, "I'll give you a hug since that's the only thing I can get." Tina rolled her eyes and turned to go into her dorm. I started to walk away when I realized I was going to miss the chance of a lifetime, so I turned around and said, "Wait, you know what?" Tina stopped at the door, turned around, and looked at me as I walked back up to her on the steps of her dorm. I looked in Tina's eyes, wrapped my arms around her, and planted a big fat kiss on her. Tina describes that kiss as the "kiss that changed my life."
The proposal: As told by the Bride: Fast forward to May of 2010 - my graduation from Notre Dame. Though my parents took pictures of me in my toga with and without Greg (just in case), little did they know I had decided to move to the great city of Chicago to be near him while he started law school. During our time in Chicago (where we still live now), we learned a lot about ourselves and grew quickly as individuals and as a couple - inseparable from each other and our adopted cats (children). My dream has always been to go to school up north, and then start my family near my parents and sisters in Florida. Greg understood this as we are both very family-oriented, and quickly adopted my family as his own after only a few short visits to my family home. Greg took an internship in Miami last summer to begin our pursuit of happiness, and I visited my family (Greg) every month for a couple weeks at a time. It was a very emotional time as this was when we lost my grandmother, Ita, who had fought valiantly through 5 years of cancer. If I wasn't already sure that Greg was the man for me, the role he played during this time proved that I could trust him to support me through anything. It was during my last visit to Florida that Greg and my sister, Fio, planned a double date in Miami. Our restaurant was near a historical church, where Greg said we had to stop to pick up some prayer cards his mother had asked for. Though I had purposely made sure my nails were in tip top, engagement ring shape all summer, I had no real suspicion that my recurring daydream would come true that night. When we arrived to the church (Ermita de la Caridad), we went inside and I picked up as many prayer cards as I could get my hands on. We noticed a pretty view behind the church, so we went outside to gaze upon the Miami skyline behind the beautiful Biscayne Bay. Greg and I were being "that couple," kissing and whispering sweet nothings, when suddenly Greg dropped down on one knee. Before I knew it he was holding up a beautiful ring and asking, "Will you marry me?" I was in total shock! I seriously thought I had spaced out and was having a daydream, or that Greg was joking around as he had done before in a "wouldn't this be perfect" kind of way. I must have asked "Are you serious?!" about 5 times, while Greg's knee was getting sore on the pavement, until finally I screamed "YES!" and heard the onlookers start to clap for us as we kissed. One of the onlookers was actually quick enough to take a few pictures of us once she caught on to what was happening. Greg had made reservations for us at an Italian restaurant named Scarpetta, at the Fountainebleau hotel. I cried happy tears the whole way to the restaurant, especially as he told me the story of how he had (struggled) to (finally) get my parents to sit down (after pouring themselves a drink) for him to (obviously) ask their permission to marry me. After my dad (pretending to be stern) gave his approval, he was the most excited of all to begin talking about Greg's plans. Fio was also there to give her approval and help brainstorm proposal ideas. Once Greg and I sat down at the restaurant, the waitress brought over a large scrapbook that Greg made for me. It had pictures from before I was born, my young years and through college until we met. It then featured pictures and letters from Greg about how we met and how he fell in love with me. I teared up more and more as I read it, especially when I got to the page about my grandmother, and how Greg was happy he got to meet her and sees so much of her in what he loves about me. Between the scrapbook, my tears, telling our story to all the waitresses, and the delicious meal, it was hours before we finally got back to my parents' house where they were waiting to pop a bottle of champagne and toast to our love and happiness. It has truly been the best night of my life.
