Couple celebrates their love for each other and their beloved city, New Orleans, in a colorful styled engagement stroll around the French Quarter.
Engaged at the beginning of the pandemic, Sade and Josh were never able to have engagement photos. Fortunately, as fate would have it, photographer Sabrina Massmann would soon help bring their engagement photos to life!
Sabrina recalls, “We were traveling on our way back home to Florida from Colorado where we had a wedding when our transmission went out. We limped into New Orleans which was only an hour away. I found Sade’s (Anjanae) Instagram while looking for people to possibly shoot with since we would be stuck there a few days. Anjanae and her fiancé were so up for it, Josh even bought a new suit!”
And so, Sade and Josh teamed up with Sabrina to not only capture their romance but also showcase their love of New Orleans! Check out a video of their photo session here.
For more on their love story and photos from their gorgeous shoot, keep scrolling below.
- Couple: Anjanae Crump & Joshua Goins
- Occupations: Anjanae is a Writer and Joshua is a Music producer.
Quick Facts:
- Location of engagement session: French quarter of New Orleans
- Date of shoot: May 15, 2021
- Wedding date: TBD
- Wedding location: New Orleans, LA
How they met…
Sade and Josh first connected on Instagram. However, during their first conversation, they made a surprising discovery!
Sade reveals: “…After about an hour into our first conversation we realized we both went to the same high school together and had apparently never run into each other back then.”
The first date…
Their first dat was at a fancy bar where their conversation flowed easily and they “shared a million laughs.”
They even played a little pool, but, according to Sade, it was “really just an excuse for us both to get closer to each other lol.” The pair also almost tried fried lettuce for the first time, but ultimately decided to get real food and relocated to a nearby Greek restaurant. After a delicious meal, it was starting to get late and began storming, so Josh drove Sade home.
She recalls, “We ended up staying in the car for a few hours waiting for the rain to slack up. At one point, we slipped into the backseat, but not for the reason you may think. I turned on my favorite playlist, he laid in my arms and I sang to him.”
This was a precious moment for them. For Sade, it might have even been the moment she knew Josh was the one.
“I never sing to anyone,” Sade reveals, “definitely not using my real singing voice, but in that moment, I sang to him. He wasn’t a stranger; he wasn’t someone to judge me. It was as though he was simply an extension of myself, his heartbeat a song I already knew the rhythm of.”
When the rain finally calmed, Sade and Josh shared their first kiss (one Sade will never forget!) and then she ran inside wearing Josh’s jacket “to fend off the lingering drizzle.” She was smiling “like a teenager with her first crush.”
Later that night, Josh texted her when he made it home and immediately made plans for their second date!
Their proposal story…
Josh’s proposal was intimate and meaningful.
It was the beginning of a typical morning for Sade. She was getting ready for work (as a teacher); however, the stakes were a little different this time around. Since the pandemic, she had been working remotely. So this would be her first day returning to in-person teaching and it was actually the first day of her final year teaching.
While Josh would normally be sleeping, “this time he cheerfully followed [her] around…”. At the time, she “assumed [he] was…attempting to make [her] feel better about having to return to teaching in-person again.” Little did she know, he was about to propose.
As she was putting on her earrings, Sade turned around and saw Josh drop to one knee!
Sade says, “While it may seem like a mundane proposal, only he knew just how much weight was on my shoulders on that first day going back to work and he wanted nothing more than to make my day special knowing it would set the tone for the rest of the year.”
“Well,” she admits, “I smiled the entire eight hours at work and even months later on my toughest days in the classroom, I looked down at that ring and remembered that what I had waiting at home for me was worth the wait.”
When they knew they were “the one”…
The couple admit they “knew [they] were the ones for each other pretty early on.”
Sade remembers on their first date, thinking, ““Yeah, I really like him,” after openly discussing [their] feelings about relationships and agreeing that love isn’t enough; we’d both learned first-hand that there was so much more needed in order to maintain a healthy relationship.”
Over time as they discovered how many of their core values aligned, how well they worked together, and realized how much they enjoyed each other’s company, they made “the intentional decision to make this [their] last relationship.”
From that point forward, Sade says, “We talked about our future together explicitly. Seeing him be himself unapologetically and finding myself loving so much of what makes him who he is, I fell in love easily. It was the first time someone loved me in my language without me having to fight for understanding, and even when we do have misunderstandings, we don’t have to fight to reach compromise.”
The engagement session & theme…
While they didn’t have a set theme, capturing their effortless chemistry was at the forefront of their photoshoot. They also wanted to keep it classy, coordinated, and “highlight the beauty of [their] city [New Orleans].”
For Sade, one of her favorite moments was “dancing in the middle of the sidewalk as a musician played live music on the corner.”
She adds, “Our photographer did a wonderful job capturing both our love for each other and our surroundings.”
Their favorite thing to do as a couple…
Due to their busy schedules and interests often forcing them to do separate things, one of their favorite things to do is simply “[to] share the same space as [they] do [their] own different activities.”
Sade reveals, “We’re blessed to both work from home now with our own schedules, so we often check in on each other for little “couple moments,” whether it’s simply exchanging kisses, laughing at memes we saw, enjoying a snack together or discussing what we’re currently working on.”
Also, even though they have different tastes in entertainment, they “love it when [they’re] able to find a movie or series [they] both agree on and binge-watch it with snacks galore.”
They also enjoy being active with their puppy outside, spending time with family, and traveling to new places.
Wedding planning so far…
So far, the couple’s wedding planning has been “almost nonexistent” and “yet somehow still mentally exhausting.”
Sade admits, “I was so busy with teaching this past year that I barely had the time to do much of anything else. Since summer started we’ve been renovating our home, but we’re basically done and are ready to start officially planning the wedding soon. We hope to have it sometime late next year.”
Looking for more colorful styled engagement session inspiration?
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Vendors:
- Photographer: Sabrina Massmann
- Bride to be: Sade cru
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