Martha & Zach are such a sweet & adorable couple. I had the pleasure of photographing their engagement session last fall at the Utica Train Station in downtown Utica, NY!
I loved getting to know more about Martha & Zach and their love story! Here's what I learned:
How did you meet?
Martha: "Well I was at my best friend, Carrisa’s, birthday party hanging with some friends and we were all playing a card game. I picked up a card that said I had to switch shirts with the person next to me. I went and changed and my other friend, Jacob, took a photo of me and sent it to his friends on their college football team on Snapchat. Zachary messaged Jacob back asking what my number was and we talked the entire summer. I finally met him in person after months of face timing every night once the semester started back up in the fall. "
Zach: "Well one summer night in 2018, it was a normal night I was just laying in bed when my best friend from college who I played football with was hanging out with friends. He sent a random picture of Martha as they where all playing some game, and I saw her and that’s all it took. I texted him back and asked who she was and that’s how it all started. One random summer night and a Snapchat."
What was your first date?
Martha: "We never really had time to go out much in the beginning because he was busy with school and then football practice late at night and I was still in nursing school, so my first memory of us having a true date was when it was just him and I in his apartment. We got Chinese, snacks, and watched movies until like 2am. It was perfect. "
Zach: "We talked all summer but never actually met because she lived 3hrs away, so we had to wait until I finally went back to school for football training camp. We set up a time to finally meet before one of my football meetings on a Wednesday afternoon. I remember I had a really bad practice that day, and on a normal day during camp I would’ve been upset... but all I could think about was finally getting to meet her. After the meeting we met up and went back to my apartment. All I remember was being so awkward because she was so beautiful and I didn’t wanna screw it up the first night. We watched movies all night, even though I had practice the next day. It wasn’t the normal date, but we had so much fun that night just hanging out watching movies. That’s when I knew she was the one. No fancy date nights just being with her was enough!"
Martha, what made you fall in love with Zach? What do you love most about him?
"I fell in love with Zachary because of his amazingly big heart. Zach makes me laugh like I never have before (even in situations I probably shouldn’t). He is a strong, passionate, goofy, sometimes embarrassing, and quite simply... my perfect man. I am my absolute best self with him and what I love the most about him is that I know, no matter how upset we get with each other, he will always be there for me, standing by my side."
Zach, what made you fall in love with Martha? What do you love most about her?
"It’s hard to chose, but just the way she looks at me. Her eyes get me every time. She always has my back even on my worst days. I just love everything about her."
How did you get engaged?
Martha: "I had just worked three twelve hour night shifts in a row and had to drive three down to see Zach. I was exhausted, cranky, and quite frankly didn’t want to do anything other than go to bed. I walk into Zach’s house and his mom is yelling that I need to help her get the canopy from the porch. Well the thing is, I had just walked by the canopy in the garage so I knew it wasn’t on the porch. I walked to the porch and told her it wasn’t there I just saw it. She insisted I went to help her and at this point I was getting frustrated! I was just so tired and this was the last thing I felt like doing. So I went to the garage to prove that I just saw the canopy. She yelled back again that it was on the porch... and now I was a little angry. I walked out onto the porch and was like “see there is nothing out here!” And as I turned around to go back to the garage, Zach was on one knee, laughing hysterically at my frustration. I was like a deer in head lights! I was frozen because I was in absolute shock. I started crying as it finally kicked in and all I could do was jump into his arms."
Zach: "I wanted to wait, but just couldn’t. We had planned to go camping and go to the PA Grand Canyon, and that’s where I was going to do it. I didn’t wanna lose the ring . She was coming to my house after a night of work and a three hour drive. I had my mom get her to go to my porch to help her get something that wasn’t even there. The plan was to get her in the porch and when she turned around to come back in I would be sitting there on my knee. I hid in my bathroom until my mom got her to the porch and she did, but I didn’t know, so I came out and she was there so I instantly turned around and went back in and mom actually got her to go out again and this time I followed and when she turned around I was on my knee asking her to be with me forever!"
What are you most looking forward to about your wedding?
"Officially getting to start our lives together. Standing side by side no matter what is thrown at us; all knowing we will always make it out, together."
Martha & Zach got married on May 22nd, 2021. Stay tuned... I'll be sharing some photos from their wedding on the blog very soon!
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