Sarah + Ben | Engagement Session on the Family Farm

You know you have a keeper when one, not to mention both of you, are more than willing to make weekly trips back and forth from Corvallis to Seattle. …Fortunately Sarah + Ben don’t have to do so much driving anymore, but that was the start of their relationship. Up and down I-5 they both split their time in each city to spend as much time as possible together and cultivate their immediate bond into a lifelong partnership.

You also know you have a keeper when he’s not scared off by your family crashing your first date, or by your gallbladder trying to kill you and requiring emergency surgery on your third date. Seriously, there’s nothing these two love birds can’t handle.

I had the great pleasure of meeting with Sarah + Ben after her Mom recommended me for their wedding photography – her Mom and my Mom went to school together [Corvallis is smaller than you think] – and I instantly fell in love with their love. We talked about the plans they had made so far over coffee and I was so happy to learn that they were planning a personal and intimate wedding on some private property that belongs to a friend of Sarah’s family… I also learned that they’re decisive – the holy grail of engaged couples. Ahhhhhh!!! They also shared a super adorable proposal story >>>

Ben had picked up the ring that morning from Olufson Designs, and hid it behind his amp in the front room of our house. He had taken a picture of it and was planning on meeting up with my Dad to get his permission. My Mom was making dinner that night and was needing ingredients, so I told her to go into Trader Joes, see Ben, and maybe pick up a few things there – I had no idea that he had the ring! So my Mom went in there, with no idea what was about to happen, and Ben had no idea she was coming into the store. Ben told her he need to show her something and she thought it was just something random. So there, in the middle of Trader Joes, Ben showed my Mom the ring and he said she teared up and was so happy. Then came the hard part – my Dad. My Dad came in and Ben showed him the ring. Instant approval and excitement!

He came home late and I was sleeping. He brought me flowers – which was weird because the flowers he had given me just a few days before were still doing great – trying to get me up so that he could propose, but I looked at them and put them on the coffee table while I was still laying down. His plans did not work. So, he resulted to “fake” falling and blaming it on Pippin. Then I was worried that he had fallen and he asked me to help him up. When he finally got me up off the couch he had the ring in his left hand, told me how happy he was and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me and asked me to marry him – mind you I had been sleeping for about an hour, I was in my jammies and my hair was a total mess. But it was perfect.

Sometimes the best proposal stories are when things don’t go according to plan 🙂 Oh and I’m totally in love with Sarah’s morganite ring!!!

We spent a sunny afternoon in mid-January working in different areas of her family’s farm just south of Corvallis. A hibernating hazelnut orchard is actually very lovely and monochromatic …though we did have to tread carefully to not end up falling in the mud. We made our way to the far end of the orchard to the neighboring blueberry farm for a slight change of scenery and a little more color. An outfit change and a little driving took us to a BIG red barn and more hibernating fields. I loved the richness of the barn with Sarah + Ben’s homegrown style. When the day started I didn’t think that we were going to get much in the way of a sunset… boy was I wrong. Oregon did what she does best, surprise you the moment you think you know what’s going to happen. The whole session was full of stories, laughter, cuddles, and excitement!

I can’t wait for their wedding this September at the Old Iron Ranch in Shedd, Oregon.