Brianna Helms Engagement Photography

Chris & Jennilyn’s Engagement Session

How did you two meet?

Chris and I met at college. We would say hi through the halls every once in a while but we were never close friends or anything. Flash forward almost a year. I had left school for personal reasons. Randomly, Chris decides to message me one day “Hey, hows it going?” I was taken back at the sight of his name on my phone since I hadn’t talked to him for over a year and we weren’t really “friends” per say. But thankfully I messaged him back, we hit it off instantly, spent 4 hours on FaceTime that night till way after midnight and we’ve never missed a day talking since. Within a week he said I love you and within two we knew we were going to get married.

How did Chris propose

December 9, 2017
Chris took me out on a triple date with his brothers and significant others. He had told me beforehand that one of the girls wanted to split after dinner and take just the girls out for hot chocolate and then we’d meet up at the park for a walk afterwards. I thought it was slightly strange because she’d never wanted to do anything like that before, but Chris insisted that everything would be fine and I would have fun and to enjoy it. Throughout dinner we talked and laughed, Chris had gotten a couple texts from his sister (which I thought was odd) but his Grandpa was ill at the time and he was keeping tabs on him (so he said)
I didn’t think anything else of it. As we started leaving dinner it was time to split up, and me being the clingy, begging sort, I told him again I didn’t want to leave his side. He reassured me I’d be fine and would have fun, gave me a kiss and a hug and sent me to her car. We went and had hot chocolate at Bigby and then went to Holland park. As we pull up, the snow covering the ground and the Christmas lights all on the trees and a beautiful gazebo, I see Chris’s sister Alisha standing at the edge of the grass. Now I’m getting curious.
“What are you doing here? You should’ve come and got hot chocolate with us!”
“Yeah I should have!” She exclaimed with a big smile on her face and her phone is out in front of her. As I start walking I notice that his entire family is all up by the gazebo and it hits me. THIS IS IT. His mom calls the other two over to join them and I start sipping my hot chocolate and shaking with nerves as I walk up towards them. They’re all spread out up toward the gazebo each with a rose, a picture frame and smiles that scream “We love you and are so excited you’re joining our family”
Each picture is one of ours together with a saying creating a poem.
From when we first began to love
Our love grew deeper
It grew into friendship
Into a great adventure
It brought happiness to us
Making sparks fly
Thus forging unconditional love that will never die
Today our love is strong and I promised I wouldn’t take too long
There he was holding the last frame and the last rose with his Batman stocking hat and a big smile of nerves and emotions. I took the rose and he took my hand.
“I told you I wouldn’t propose unless I did something, so I’m gonna make a call”
He gets out his phone and I’m thinking he’s going to call my dad and ask permission right in front of me
“Oh you’re going to do that now?! What if he doesn’t answer?” I asked laughing but also semi crying.
“Uh huh. Ok” is all he said before hanging up and now I’m very confused.
“I told you I wouldn’t propose unless someone very special was here. So if you look over there,”
“Are my parents here?!”
“You’ll see 2 people and someone with 4 legs”
I BALLED my eyes out. He brought my parents and my dog Toby with them. I lived in an apartment so I wasn’t able to keep him with me so my parents took care of him while I was living in Grand Rapids.
Anyways, after a mini reunion of hugs, my dad hands Chris the ring box and Chris proceeds to tell me how much he loves my smile and beautiful eyes and how I kept him calm all evening from giving anything away. Then he got down and asked me to be his wife, obviously, I said yes.

What are some of your favorite things about each other?

Jennilyn:
Chris has a way of making me smile no matter what the circumstances. I could have the WORST day at work and it won’t matter because he’ll think of some joke to say, something cute to compliment me, or just the touch of his hands around me will make me smile. I love his kind heart to help others and his love and relationship with God. I’m so proud of him on becoming the man he is today and I am so blessed to spend every day with him.

Chris:
My favorite thing about my wife Jennilyn is her heart and sense of humor. The way she cares about me and other people is a great example of how we should all love. Her sense of humor is a joy to me and brings a smile to my face day in and day out. Her sense of humor is similar to mine so we laugh a lot.

What was your favorite part about the shoot?

Jennilyn:
One of my favorite moments of the shoot was almost getting stuck on a tree branch. For one of the shots I had to get up on a big branch, mind you it’s snowy, icy, freezing cold, and I’m in heels . I could barely get up there. Chris had to lift my legs up in order to get there and then getting down was fun too
Brianna’s my cousin so I can say I’m a bit bias, BUT, she’s amazing. She still treated us completely professionally despite being very close family. We were able to get some awesome shots with my dog which was so great! The photos truly showed our happiness and love. Couldn’t have asked for a better photographer or photos.

Chris: it was hilarious when Toby blocked our kiss in one of the photos even though we couldn’t control it.

Seeing my cousin get married was such a wonderful day. I’m so glad I could do Chris and Jennilyn’s engagement pictures. Learn more about Brianna Helms Engagement Photography