Mike, Michelle, and Josie the Golden Retriever
On a bright January day, I hopped on a plane and flew out to Colorado to meet up with Mike, Michelle, and their sweet Golden Retriever, Josie.
Bryan (husband and second shooter) and I drove through the winding mountain passes, filled with excitement for this stunning Breckenridge, Colorado Engagement session. Fresh powder sparkled on the rugged mountains and the skies shined crisp and blue. We soon arrived at our first location - Sapphire Point Overlook, the most BEAUTIFUL location for a mountain Colorado engagement session. Mike and Michelle had warned me of Josie...about her need to give lots of love ;). Low and behold, they were 100% right. When they opened up the trunk of their car, a smiling Josie hopped out and proceeded to great me like a long lost friend. Her grey-with-age face contrasted sharply against her golden fur. You see, Mike and Michelle knew that Josie didn't have much time left, and they wanted their little family of three to have a photoshoot to remember. And boy oh boy, was this one for the books. Mike and Michelle also warned me that Josie LOVED to roll in the snow. You better believe that happened within 1 minute of her getting out of the car. And so began this stunning and happy Sapphire Point engagement session. There a few important events that occurred to get to this point, so let's take a quick walk down memory lane. A few years back, Michelle had temporarily moved out to Colorado from Georgia. She found an internship at an event production company....where Mike worked. I'm going to spoil things for you right now. It went really well;) When I asked Michelle about the moment she *knew* there was something between her and Mike, her reply was "when I always wanted to be around him and was sad when we weren't together." What a sweet start to a relationship. Their first date involved spaghetti- if that's not a sign of true love, I don't know what is. Mike made the dish and it's still one of Michelle's favorite meals from him to this day. One of the most charming things about Mike and Michelle? They have spunk. When I asked Michelle how Mike proposed, and she said this " He was PLANNING on proposing at a waterfall in Telluride [Colorado] but he ended up proposing the night before. We [had] gotten into a discussion about marriage ;)... " So relatable! So real. And so much spunk! As we make our way back to the day of this Sapphire Point Engagement session, I asked Mike and Michelle one last question: What did you love about your engagement session? We loved how comfortable you and Bryan made us feel in front of the camera. The temperature was perfect and having our sweet girl Josie in the pictures was very special!
Quite honestly, that is one of the sweetest but gut-wrenching things I've ever been told about an engagement session. From one dog lover to another, it ripped my heart out to learn that gentle, smiling Josie passed away just a few months after this session. I am so grateful to have captured just a few of the many moments of how she impacted Mike and Michelle. Here's to you sweet girl. May that grey face never slow you down.
Mike & Michelle got hitched this summer, and their wedding was filled with the most stunning arch of rich, summer florals, a Colorado mountain venue with some major south charm, and tiny jars of local honey!