Beautiful power-couple celebrates their love in elegant winter engagement session.
Photographer Moses Janga captures all the feelings in Mikéla and Brandon’s elegant winter affair themed engagement session!
Set in downtown Providence, Rhode Island, the couple expresses their love and affection in front of snow-covered backdrops with bubbling champagne. Their fur baby also made an adorable appearance!
After taking photos outdoors, they transitioned into an intimate indoor studio setting in Pawtucket. With a few outfit changes, fun poses, and lots of love, this couple absolutely shines!
Read more about Brandon and Mikéla’s winter engagement session (including details on their inspiring love story and future wedding plans) below!
- Couple: Mikéla Almeida and Brandon Cuffy
- Occupations: We are both attorneys
- Wedding date: January 16, 2022
- Wedding location: Lakeview Pavilion in Foxborough, Massachusetts
- Location of Engagement shoot: Providence, Rhode Island (outside) and Pawtucket, Rhode Island (studio)
How they met…
“We met in law school in Rhode Island.”
The first date…
For their first date, Mikéla took the lead in asking Brandon out.
She says: “I asked him out because I knew out of respect he wouldn’t since I hadn’t dated since my late boyfriend passed away.”
So, she asked him if he wanted to join her helping out at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving in November 2016. Brandon was overjoyed! He’d been wanting to help out that year, but couldn’t get a spot. Mikéla had secretly secured two volunteer positions for them.
A week or so later (for part 2 of their first date) Mikéla took him to a restaurant with a stunning view of downtown Boston. It was the perfect first date!
When she knew she found “the one”…
This power-couple’s relationship was a slow burn that grew following a tragic loss.
When the pair first met in law school, Mikéla was in a relationship of two years. During final exams of her first year, Mikéla’s boyfriend suddenly passed away. During this difficult time, Brandon stepped up as a great friend.
Mikéla recalls: “During the next three years he was exceptionally present for me in all the ways a friend should be for someone who lost someone significant — all without asking for anything in return [or with] preconceived notions. His presence was unwavering and formidable.”
After his love and support, she knew in her heart he was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.
The proposal…
After eight long months of quarantining, Brandon and Mikéla decided to go on a four-day vacation in Portland, Maine.
While Mikéla normally planned their trips, this time Brandon insisted on planning everything! They stayed at a beautiful AirBnb on the water, went to amazing restaurants, and took in all the sites of Portland. On their second night, Brandon took Mikéla to the Portland Head Lighthouse to watch the sunset before dinner.
Unbeknownst to Mikéla, Brandon had hired a photographer to capture their proposal. To keep things a surprise, he told the photographer “to pretend that she needed assistance “catching the light” before her “clients” arrived and needed both of them to assist” her.
So, Mikéla (though confused) kindly obliged and followed the woman’s instructions. The photographer helped her up onto a large rock and told Mikéla to look towards the sun while Brandon stood behind her.
To her surprise, when she turned around Brandon was on one knee!
The engagement session…
Their engagement session theme was an “elegant winter affair.”
Shooting in two different locations (in a studio in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and outdoors in downtown providence), they wanted to show two different outfits “to sort of exude that very refined theme.” They also got to shoot some video shots for virtual save the dates, which they are very excited to see!
Overall, the couple agrees: “We wanted to show a very strong, powerful, but loving black couple.”
Favorite thing to do as a couple…
Their favorite thing to do as a couple is eat!
“We absolutely love going out to eat (to a fault). And if we can throw in traveling to do just that, then that’s the perfect things for us to do.”
Wedding planning…
In spite of the pandemic, Mikéla says their wedding planning has “been largely seamless.”
She admits: “I’m not a huge fan of wedding planning, but I feel like for the type A parts of my personality, I secretly love it but am afraid to admit it.”
For their actual wedding day, she’s most looking forward to dancing the night away!
She says, “I am a dancer and I often do it when people are looking and definitely when they aren’t. [I’m] just ready for a big party, night of dancing!”
Looking for more elegant winter engagement inspiration?
Click here.
Vendors:
- Photographer: Moses Janga @Mofliks
- Make-up: Jacinta El Hachem
- Videographer: Brandon Moye
- Moral support/assistant for the day/hair stylist: Afua Akoto
Great post. Lovely couples with the perfect snap.