Featured in Issue 29, Honey Lens Imaging captures Adiah and AJ’s romantic fall picnic engagement shoot at The Sixpence with rich autumn hues.
Adiah and AJ first met in 2019 at their shared alma mater, Indiana State University. The couple’s initial friendship evolved into something deeper and a first date to Adiah’s favorite breakfast spot, Le’ Peep, led to countless more. Soon, they couldn’t imagine their lives without each other!
… when I didn’t want to be loved… he still loved me. He is the sweetest most loving man I’ve ever met.
– Adiah (The bride-to-be)
Fast forward to their engagement session, the couple showcased their love before the peaceful rolling hills of their future wedding venue: The Sixpence.
Filled with rich fall hues, an intimate picnic set-up, and two outfit changes, there is an undeniable rustic glam feel to Adiah and AJ’s photos that are sure to inspire your own engagement session!
More sweet details on their love story and photos from their fall picnic engagement session await below. Make sure to check out their print feature in Issue 29!
- Couple: Adiah Mickens & Alphonse (AJ) Owens
- Occupations: Home Health Care Aids
Quick Facts:
- Wedding date: August 27, 2023
- Wedding location: The Sixpence in Whitestown Indiana
- Location of Engagement shoot: The Sixpence
- Photographer: Honey Lens Imaging
How we met…
We first met in college in 2019. We both went to Indiana state university and Alphonse had seen me on my friend’s Snapchat and then he added me. First, we started talking about music and what we liked and didn’t like. Then after a couple of days, he came over and we met in person.
At this time, I didn’t realize that he was trying to get to know me on a more personal level. I just thought he wanted to be my friend. So the whole time we were talking I was just telling him about my boy problems not even realizing he wanted me.
So after that day, we were supposed to hang out again but we were both busy and never got back around to it until one of my best friends invited me to her house and Alphonse was there as well. Neither one of us knew that we had this mutual friend in common so it was a nice surprise to see each other.
That day is when he asked me out on a date to my favorite breakfast restaurant at the time which was Le’ Peep.
Our first date…
On our first date, Alphonse took me to my favorite restaurant which is Le’ Peep. It’s a breakfast place. We sat there for two hours talking. We talked about prior relationships, music, our favorite food, and our family. It was honestly a great time. I believe we went on our second date a couple of days later.
When I knew I found “the one”…
I knew Alphonse was the one because I had never been treated like this in my life without anyone asking for something in return. He would just take me on dates and never looked for anything in return. He would drive down to my college every week (which was about an hour and a half away from him) to come and take me out on a date, or hang out; he just wanted to see me.
I think what really set it off was when I didn’t want to be loved and he still loved me. He is the sweetest most loving man I’ve ever met and he believes in Jesus so that really set it off. What made me really want to be with him was seeing the type of family he came from. I feel like family plays a big part and his family is just filled with love. They love everyone and they welcome everyone.
Our proposal story:
I love our proposal story! So we got engaged on July 31st, 2022. That weekend my mother had planned to take all of her kids and their significant others to Jamaica. So we got to Jamaica on July 29th. The whole time we were there I never thought that he would propose because Alphonse always said whenever he proposed he wanted his mother to be there so I was like “No, he’s not going to propose to me here in Jamaica,“ although I wanted him to.
On July 31st, it was a beautiful day.
Alphonse and I spent the day in the water with my family and having some drinks on the beach. Then, after a while, everyone left to go back to their rooms to change because they had told me the boys were going to do their own thing and my mom had said she wanted to have a meeting with all her daughters, so I wasn’t thinking anything of it.
I didn’t think anything of it until Alphonse and I went back to our room. He was getting dressed and he had said to me “Tonight I want you to look the prettiest you’ve ever looked,” and he kept smiling at me. So I was like why? Because he never says things like that. He always tells me I look pretty, so I was like hmm what do you have up your sleeve?
We both left the room and he went with the boys and I went with the girls.
Once I got with the girls my sisters kept trying to fix my hair and give me lip gloss which made me even more suspicious. Then my mom was like “Okay ladies, let’s go to the beach.“ And while were walking to the beach I saw my stepdad and my brother walking next to us which was odd to me because it was supposed to be a boy’s night for them.
So the closer we got to the beach, my sister told me to give her my phone because she needed to make a call and I was like um okay? Now by this time, we’ve reached the beach and I see my handsome love standing in the middle waiting for me and I’m like what’s going on? My mom was like “We’re all about to take couple’s pictures. You and AJ go first.”
We’re standing there taking pictures and then AJ starts doing his proposal speech.
I’m standing there like a big goof in total shock. He gets on one knee and asked me to marry him! I was so excited I couldn’t muster out any other word than “Fasho.” He put the ring on my finger and we took pictures on the beach while the sun was setting. It was perfect.
Our engagement session theme…
Our engagement session was a great time. I knew I wanted a fall picnic vibe. For a while, I couldn’t figure out where to take the pictures so that’s why I just asked my venue if we could do them there. It was not a problem at all.
We did two outfit changes. One set of outfits was incorrect because we were supposed to wear black and white but we forgot my fiancé’s black pants so he had to wear his all-brown suit. The next outfit change was our orange and brown colors.
My photographer made sure we had some great golden hour photos. The shoot was amazing, it felt comfortable. My photographer helped us out a lot. She literally heard my idea and made it come to life.
Favorite thing to do together…
Our favorite thing to do as a couple is travel and eat. We love just getting out and going places. Our favorite place to go is Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We go at least twice of year. We love Tennessee so much because we believe that’s where we actually fell in love with one another. After Tennessee, we’ve just been so in love with each other.
Wedding planning so far…
Honestly, wedding planning hasn’t been that bad. I think I’m more bored than anything. I have a wedding coordinator so she deals with everything which leaves me with nothing to do. Sometimes I would like to have something to do, but at least everything is being taken care of. I think the only stressful part I’ve been working on is making sure my wedding party and I can all still fit in our dresses and suits!
What we’re looking forward to most on our wedding day…
What we are looking forward to the most on our wedding day is saying “I do”. We already live together but saying I do just makes everything so much more official and special.
Looking for more romantic fall picnic engagements?
Click here.
Vendors:
- Photographer: Natalie Giangiulio of Honey Lens Imaging
- Event Planner: Stephanie Armstrong
- Venue: The Sixpence
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