Jonathan & Patty: Washington DC engagement session

I'd held off blogging this session for a few months now simply because I didn't want to preempt the awesome news until I got the signed contract back from them. 

Well, I've received said contract, and I'm beyond ecstatic to get to officially say I'll be shooting their May 2014 destination wedding in Puerto Rico! Woohoo! The funniest part is, Patty forwarded me the reservation email of my hotel in San Juan even before I got the contract back. That should've been confirmation enough, haha!

Anyway, enough about me—I've known Jonathan and Patty since freshman year at the University of Maryland. Jonathan was the VP of the Filipino Cultural Association that year and gave me the chance to host the annual Philippine Culture Night which resulted in me hosting or co-hosting every year. For being so new to the scene, it was a risk he took, at least I'd like to believe, in giving me that responsibility. 

Fast-forward a couple years. Patty contacted me a few weeks after they announced their engagement mid-2012 while I was briefly back in the States. With everyone's busy schedules and my own wedding coming up, we never really got the chance to iron out the details. After a few postponements, we finally set a date to shoot their engagement session. We visited the Gaylord at National Harbor where we met up with their affable Chow Chow, Brian. And since food played a big role in their relationship, we wanted to make sure to hit up downtown DC for a bite. We wrapped up at the Jefferson Memorial where a lost bet on their first date resulted in a piggyback ride around the Tidal Basin commemorating the first of many more to come (dates, not piggybacks).

And now going full circle, as someone relatively new to the scene, I'm humbled to be given the responsibility to create lasting imagery of these two lovely people on the most important day of their lives. 

Cheers, Sterlin and Patty!