Lake of the Woods Engagement Session | Kelsey & Brandon

engagement

Kelsey & Brandon have the sweetest, playful kind of love that always makes me smile through the entire session. I love how easily Kelsey smiles when Brandon looks at her and how easy it is for him to get her to laugh. When I met up with this couple for their Lake of the Woods engagement session in Mahomet, it was a hot, humid summer day. I always feel bad for the guys in suits when we are shooting in the hot sun, but they were both so easy going and never once complained about the weather.

Here is their story and a few of my favorites from their session.

How did you meet?

Brandon and Kelsey met working at Gibson Area Hospital back in 2015. She was in charge of fundraising and he volunteered at the events. Kelsey refused to date anyone she worked with and actually had a boyfriend at the time. After that relationship ended, Brandon would make occasional visits to her office. After being turned down for dinner, he finally convinced her to go out for dinner with a group of friends to get out of the house. Kelsey agreed to go for dinner and then headed back home while the rest of the group went out for the night. Brandon stayed persistent in trying to get Kelsey on a date, but she continued to stick with her plan to not date people from work. When Kelsey quit her job, Brandon heard the news and immediately went to her house to check on her. He asked her out again and said she had no reason to tell him no since they no longer worked together. She finally agreed to ONE date and insisted on meeting him there, figuring if she’s just agree to one date that he would finally leave her alone.

When did you know he was the one?

Kelsey says that both she and Brandon knew they wanted to marry the other very early on in their relationship. Brandon actually planned to propose much earlier than he did, but took the advice of Kelsey’s friend who told him to wait a bit. They started camping and vacationing together and were soon inseparable, each of them knowing that they wanted to spend their lives together.

How did he propose?

After giving her a Mother’s ring as an early Christmas gift (Kelsey has 3 adorable kiddos), he wrapped it back up to give her on Christmas Day and told her to act surprised. When she opened the box, in place of the Mother’s ring was an engagement ring. The rest of her gifts from him that Christmas were all wedding related: a countdown, a cake plate and Mr and Mrs Rae Dunn mugs, because they love coffee and she loves Rae Dunn.

Their favorite things to do together.

These two are adventurers. They love to golf, scuba dive, camp, boat, go wine tasting and travel the world.

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To see more Illinois engagement photography, check out Hilary and Skyler’s Allerton Park Engagement session.

  1. Audrey says:

    I love their story of how they got together… glad he stuck around and waited till she left her job!

  2. Kate says:

    They have such a great story! Congratulations to them and all that is to come in their future!!

  3. Lindsay Zilke says:

    What a gorgeous couple!! I love their proposal story!!

  4. Megan says:

    What a great looking couple!

  5. Raina says:

    I love their love story!! I am so glad that he waited for her.

  6. Alona says:

    That is such a sweet proposal idea!

  7. Natalie says:

    Their story is so sweet! Love these photos!

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