This Dumbarton Oaks engagement session was photographed in Georgetown on Thursday, May 22, 2019 by Hannah Bjorndal. Hannah is a Georgetown engagement photographer available for weddings and engagement sessions in the Washington, D.C. area.

Two absolutely delightful people on the most glorious of May evenings. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my job? Hillary and Robbie are genuinely two of the kindest, loveliest people I have ever met, and I had so much fun spending this Thursday evening with them!

First, let’s start with the lead-up to this engagement session. While I live less than 4 miles from the beautiful Dumbarton Oaks Gardens, my journey to meet Hillary and Robbie was hilariously insane. As I normally do, I planned to get to the engagement session location about a half hour early to scout and get setup. I called an Uber with plenty of time to spare. He must have got lost because I saw his little car icon spinning round and round within the app just a few blocks from my house. This lasted for about 20 minutes. When he finally arrived, he drove 15 miles under the speed limit on the highway and then took the wrong exit. GREAT. We then proceeded to get stopped at a backed up traffic light for 15 more minutes and I started to panic . . . not only was I not going to be early, I was going to be late.

Realizing that we weren’t going to be moving anytime soon, I ditched the Uber in search of a Bird scooter. I was literally running down the street looking for scooters. The first one was out of battery, the second one was damaged. Finally, I found a scooter near Key Bridge and raced across the bridge and down M Street. I was covered in sweat and accidentally took a wrong turn. Finally, 15 minutes late for the session, I sprinted up to the Dumbarton gates. Robbie and Hillary were SO gracious and kind to me, even though I was late! We somehow managed to get a million gorgeous photos before the gardens closed 30 minutes later!

Dumbarton Oaks is completely gorgeous. I had never been inside and had no clue what I had been missing out on. May is the month to visit, too, because all the beautiful rose bushes were in full bloom. It smelled heavenly everywhere we went. If they hadn’t closed the park, I would have stayed all night.

This beautiful couple was such a joy to photograph. They are so naturally sweet together and spending time with them was effortless. We laughed together a ton and enjoyed wine and cheese after taking photos. I am so incredibly excited for their wedding day this October!

Here are some of my favorites – enjoy!!