It was 2007 when Angelica and Andrew first met at a restaurant in Hampton, Virginia. She was dining with two of her girlfriends when Andrew approached them and invited them to go bowling with him and his friends. “He was a horrible bowler with a great smile,” Angelica says. On the way back to campus, Andrew texted one of her friends asking for Angelica’s number but somehow never received it; fate had plans for them though. “About a month later, I ran into him at another restaurant but he was on a date. Thinking about how nice and handsome he was at the bowling alley, I decided to message him on Facebook,” she shares. He replied to her message, starting their forever love story.
The couple took to NY and NJ for their modern museum engagement session. Displaying their love for fine art, they headed to The Met and MOMA to incorporate the exhibits in their engagement photos. They also headed to Jersey City for some waterfront shots that would represent their Jersey lives. Designer pieces and modern backdrops made this e-session an editorial dream. Take a look at Angelica and Andrew’s modern museum engagement session and read the rest of their love story below.
Bride-to-be: Angelica Rogers
Groom-to-be: Andrew McKinley
Wedding date: 05/06/2016
Engagement session locations: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The MOMA, Jersey City Waterfront (Newport area) and Downtown Jersey City (graffiti)
Tell us all about the proposal!
Several dates (and years) later, Andrew and I took our first European trip to Italy. When he proposed at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (in front of the Birth of Venus painting, no less), I couldn’t help but reflect back to that day in 2007 when he smiled at me. It was such a beautiful proposal and day in Florence: sipping cappuccinos, marveling at the sculptures around the city and sharing some gelato on our evening walk to the hotel. By the way, I still don’t know how he managed traveling around Italy for four days without accidentally telling me. It was THE most romantic day of my life.
Describe your engagement session. Did you have a theme?
Experiencing artwork (both classical and urban) is a priority in our relationship, so we thought that The Met and The MOMA would not only allow us to incorporate exhibits into our engagement shoot but also provide a beautiful backdrop. Since we also wanted to feature our Jersey City life, we spent time taking photos near the waterfront and downtown where there is a lot of amazing graffiti. We wanted our engagement session to be full of style, color and sophistication. I think our photographer Ilene Squires summed up our semi-theme perfectly: In search of a shoot that was fashion forward with a tiny touch of editorial, Angelica and Drew hit the nail on the head with the Modern Museum Engagement!
What did you do on your first date?
From our first date I knew Angelica was different. She wasn’t just pretty and sweet, but she had that special something. She is smart and she has style. Her ambition, her open-mindedness, her everything made her more than just a woman to me. On our first date we did the classic dinner and a movie, there was instant chemistry. We talked and laughed all night over drinks and bad cinema. I couldn’t get enough of her after that date. We were on the phone daily after that and I wanted to spend all of my time with her. It wasn’t long before I wanted to make us official.
What’s your favorite thing to do as a couple?
We love going to art exhibits, traveling to cities we’ve never been before, cooking meals together on the weekends, and snuggling while watching Game of Thrones.
How has wedding planning been so far?
The wedding planning has been going really good so far. The wedding will be in Memphis, TN on May 6th. We are about two months out now, and there is still a lot of tasks to mark off the list but our family and friends have been really supportive. The whole process of wedding planning has taught us how to work together and make decisions as a team. For example, we decided to design and code our own wedding website from scratch since we create digital projects as part of our careers. Managing the website from conception to completion together has strengthened our bond as partners in love and in future business.
Tell us what you’re looking forward to most on the wedding day.
We are looking forward to sharing our wedding day with our family and friends. We cannot think of the last time that so many of our favorite people were together under the same roof. It will also be amazing to see each other at the end of the aisle all dressed up and reflect on the joys, trials, and successes that have gotten us to that moment. Weddings are all about love and we know that we will be surrounded by all types of love on May 6th: the love of seeing our moms walk down the aisle looking beautiful, the love of our fathers beaming with pride, and the love of our friends’ sincerest words of encouragement and congratulations.
Vendors
Photography: Ilene Squires Photography
Shoot Location: The Met, The MoMa, Jersey City
Strappy Sandals: Michael Kors
Blue Outfit: Alice And Olivia
Suit: Express
Amber Necklace: H&M
Black Heels: Christian Louboutin
White Dress: Zara
Trenches: Burberry
MUA: Shalea Walker, Walkers Apothecary
Hair: Sammy Lacombe
Thanks for the love, Munaluchi! We love this engagement session!