Jessica and Manuel’s downtown Carmel, Indiana engagement photos were extra special to me, because I’ve been friends with these two for years now! I met them each separately, through swing dancing. Then, years later we had all moved to Indianapolis, and we would all hang out together at dances and dance events, we would go hiking together, and we would go rock climbing together. We all hung out together as a group way before Jessica and Manuel ever started dating.

Then, my husband and I were hanging out one night when he got a FaceTime call from Jessica. She was hanging out with Manuel and kissed him while on FaceTime. My husband, Andry started freaking out! We had known these two as friends for years and had no idea they were interested in each other, let alone that they had started dating! But they made so much sense together. Andry and I had multiple conversations while they were just friends about how Jessica and Manuel would be perfect together.

Around a year later, my husband got another FaceTime call while we were touring a house during our house hunting process. It was Jessica and Manuel calling to tell him they were engaged! This time, we were not nearly as surprised. I love that they have now started a tradition of FaceTiming Andry with important life updates. I can’t wait to hear what the next big FaceTime call is about.

After being friends for so long, I was SO honored with Jessica and Manuel asked me to be their wedding photographer!! I think what I love most about these two as they’ve been wedding planning is that they aren’t afraid to do things their own way. They want their wedding day to be entirely THEM and not bound by traditions that don’t speak to them and who they are as a couple. They wanted to display that in their engagement session too, so they decided do rollerblading photos! I love that they wanted to do something different and incorporate something they love doing together into their engagement photos. We started at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel and then headed to the City Hall building. By that time, it had started raining, but I always love cute rain photos with my clear umbrellas. They also wanted to make sure we got some nature and greenery backdrops, so we ended our session at Coxhall Gardens after an outfit change. I wish we had gotten a pretty sunset last night, but even though the weather was working against us, we still ended up with some beautiful photos.

I usually end my blog posts by letting the couple know that I’m working on editing their full gallery, but in this case, I went ahead and fully edited and delivered all of Jessica and Manuel’s photos already! So to everyone reading, I hope you enjoy these few highlights from a super fun session I got to do with friends! I can’t wait for their Indiana State House wedding in the spring!