Yale University Engagement Session in New Haven, CT | Maggie & George

A YALE UNIVERSITY ENGAGEMENT SESSION

The first time I spoke with Maggie and George was on a FaceTime call last summer to discuss their wedding photography. Within minutes it felt like I was spending time with friends whom I’d known forever! George and Maggie were both so sweet and such a joy to chat with, which made me that much more excited to meet them in person at their Yale University engagement session in New Haven, Connecticut!

Maggie is American and George is British (just wait until you read a bit about how they met and their love story!). Their responses to the questions scattered between their photos below brought such a smile to my face when I read them for the first time, and I know the universe did a beautiful job bringing these two together. George and Maggie have such a beautiful connection, and it was such a joy to photograph the love they share in their engagement photos!

THE PROPOSAL STORY

George and Maggie met while they were both teaching English in Spain, so the early months of their relationship were filled with adventures abroad. Maggie knew she wanted a destination engagement, and she teased George that they would have to take a warm-weather vacation in January 2019. As it turns out, they already had a vacation planned with friends to visit Iceland in October 2018!

The day Maggie and George landed in Iceland, they hopped in their rental car and drove three hours to their first destination. The second day of their vacation had much nicer weather and the two had finally adjusted to the time difference. They headed out on their next road trip, and the first stop was a beautiful waterfall where they went hiking. George kept teasing that it would be "the perfect place to propose”.

The day continued and they took a tour on a glacier lagoon. After the boat ride, George suggested he and Maggie backtrack to a more private lagoon he'd seen on a map. When they arrived, it was there that George asked Maggie if she was "ready"… and he proposed! Even though she’d been dreaming of a destination engagement, Maggie was quite surprised when George popped the question! They celebrated their engagement together with a few more stops around Iceland before their friends flew in later in the week to share the excitement with them!

These two are having a coastal tented wedding next June in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Arturo and I cannot wait to see their day come to life! Congratulations Maggie and George!!

When did you know you'd found "the one"?

Maggie: “George is the most dedicated and determined person I have ever met. As soon as we began dating, he was all in. When I needed company at 10pm and there was one last bus leaving his small town, he made sure he was on that bus. He never wavered from his belief that he would find a way to make our relationship work. He moved to Mexico but was on a plane every month to visit me in America. We weren't sure how he would get a green card, but when I suggested a masters program at NYU, he was at a university open house the next month, and even secured the program's top scholarship. Whatever he puts his mind to, he accomplishes, and he made that very clear when he went above and beyond for me in the early days of our relationship.”

George: “I think I knew Maggie was the one because of the way I felt when she was not around. I found myself actually looking forward to reading People magazine with her during our coffee breaks (I didn't care about celebrities at all before I met Maggie), and then I began to look forward to every lunch we spent together, and after that every weekend, and before I knew it I was desperate to spend all my time with her. Maggie is effortlessly charismatic and completely herself all the time. I just love spending time around her. I love traveling and speaking Spanish, and it was my dream to live in Mexico, so it is some testament to Maggie that I spent most of my time there desperate to begin a 20-hour journey to go and see her once a month.”

What's one thing you love about your partner?

Maggie: “George is incredibly patient and rational, two things that are both maddening and incredibly appealing to an impatient, largely irrational person like myself. George was always eager to move to America to make our relationship work, and he seamlessly became a part of my family and friend groups in no time at all. It's frustrating that I can never tell a story without my listener taking George's side, but it is also incredibly comforting to know that I chose a person who is so incredibly kind, smart and morally sound that he just HAPPENS to always be right.

I just re-read the prompt and it says ONE thing -- to which George kindly pointed out, ‘It is like you not to read the instructions.’”

George: “It is very difficult just to pick one thing, which I now have to commit to after I was so rude to Maggie about not reading the instructions. Something that I really appreciate is that Maggie follows through on everything. She holds herself to an incredibly high standard and will work very hard to keep her word. If Maggie says she will do something she will do it. If she makes a promise to someone, she is very unlikely to break it. She is certainly making me a better person by living so impeccably herself. Maggie also has a whole load of other amazing qualities, which I could (and have) written about extensively!”

Besides getting married, what is one thing you're looking forward to on your wedding day?

Maggie: “I'm really looking forward to our family and friends meeting for the first time. My parents have never met George's dad and stepmom, and our friends have met on varied occasions but have never all been together at once. We're anticipating a really fun party that brings together the Americans and Brits.”

George: “I'm looking forward to Maggie getting to be a bride. She's going to look so beautiful, she is going to have so much fun getting ready and soaking up the atmosphere, and, most importantly, we're going to be surrounded by the people that mean the most to us. Maggie is a princess, and I think that everyone in her life is very excited that she will get to live out that reality for the day!”

What's one thing you're looking forward to about marriage?

Maggie: “I'm excited about this new chapter in our lives! George and I will be moving into a new apartment in August, with the new furniture and items that we have selected together, and I'm excited to get into a new routine. After we're married, our paychecks will be redirected from wedding planning to adventure funds, and we're already planning a trip to Argentina for our first anniversary.”

George: “Not having to plan another wedding... but seriously, it will be nice to work on some shared goals together. We have spent a lot of time trying to get to a position where we can both be in the same country at the same time with normal jobs and normal schedules. So fingers crossed we get some time to enjoy being a couple and to work out what our next big adventure will be.”

I hope you enjoyed this spring engagement session at Yale University!  Do you know Maggie and George?  Show them some love by commenting below!


ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHERS

Shaina Lee Photography is a husband and wife photography team serving Connecticut, New York, and beyond.  We specialize in timeless, elegant, and romantic weddings while celebrating all couples in love. 

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