This colorful summer engagement session in downtown Frederick, MD was photographed by Sarah Mills in August 2020. Sarah is a Frederick engagement photographer available for weddings and engagements in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC and beyond!

What a fun afternoon! Rain was on the forecast, but because Tapan was traveling in from NC, that wasn’t going to stop us from getting their engagement photos that Saturday! We bumped up the time to 4:30pm and it was the perfect time to miss the rain but still have a good amount of light shining through the cloudy sky. We started at Baker Park, and then made our way toward downtown for photos along the beautiful historic buildings:)

I loved getting to know Natalie and Tapan, and the more I learned the more I realized the similarities in their relationship to my own! Finding similarities in my couples always makes the photographer to client relationship that much sweeter because we can relate to each other on more of a friendship level, making photos much more comfortable for the wedding day!:)

Natalie chose to go to college quite a ways away from home, but it was probably her favorite decision because it’s where she met Tapan! They both were psychology majors at Southeastern University in FL, and even lived on campus within distance of being able to see each other through their window! Natalie also said that living that close was so great because Tapan often times prevented Natalie from being late to class by banging on her door! We totally related to our “fashionably late” personalities but finding our other halves that happen to be big believers of “if you’re on time, you’re late.” As we walked around downtown Frederick, it was so fun to watch them reminisce on those memories, as they have been in a long-distance relationship since graduation.

Tapan moved to NC and Natalie moved back home to MD, but the distance between them have only made their relationship stronger which then led to the long awaited proposal!:) I had to ask how Tapan asked the big question, and Tapan answered with much detail (as I requested of course), explaining that his proposal to Natalie was a day full of activities! She visited him in NC one weekend, and ahead of time she knew he wanted to have a “date day” like they used to do together while living in FL. Natalie really wasn’t suspicious since Tapan used to plan detailed “date days” a lot back then, so she thought he was just bringing them back. The day was filled with thoughtful activities, but at the end he did what he had never done before. He handed her a letter that he had written to her, and by the end of Natalie reading it, he was down on one knee! How special is that?! Job well done, Tapan!

My husband and I also endured a long-distance relationship, so knowing this about Natalie and Tapan I assured them that they have the strength to get through any bump in the road they may face, and that their wedding day is going to be such a light at the end of the tunnel putting an end to their long-distance. This makes me so excited to document such a joyous day for them!

Their ceremony will be held in a beautiful Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Maryland and I cannot wait to capture the moment they become husband and wife!