Taryn + Tony: {Engaged} in {Virginia}

When Taryn and Tony met in 2003, Taryn – the woman who would eventually become the love of Tony’s life and his fiancee – was introducing him to a friend who thought he was one fine-looking dude. Obviously, that relationship did not work out; and time and Greek organization affiliations (AKA and APhiA, respectively) would bring them back together in close proximity. Little did they know that this time, it would be their turn to pledge allegiance to each other. The couple’s engagement session was beautifully photographed by Melissa Waller of Melissa Waller Photography. They were styled by Jameson Deloatch and Tony Colden.

Bride: Taryn Laster
Groom: Tony Whitehead
Occupation: Both are analysts.
Date of Engagement Session: 05.19.2012
Location: Old Town Alexandria and Reagan National Airport, VA

The Joy of Knowing You …..  According to Taryn, “when you start having 3hr+ nightly conversations, you get to know a lot about a person. (lol) Before you know it, I got hoodwinked and I was his and he was mine. Five years later, I can’t seem to shake him, and now we are about to take the walk of walks on September 22, 2012 and I couldn’t be any happier! ?”

For Tony’s part, he says, “After going out on a few dates I asked her to be with me exclusively (she had been working on her shocked face for months) and after giving me said shocked face, said, “Yes”. Fast forward five years and here we are today. I will spend the rest of my life with this amazing woman who brings me joy in every moment we share together. Why God chose to bless me with such an incredible gift I will never know. I can only say that I am grateful He has brought us to this point, and am eager to see what He has in store for our future.”

How He Proposed ….. “Labor Day weekend, Tony and I had a Saturday to ourselves for the first time in a long time. As the day passed Tony suggested we have a picnic dinner in the park.I didn’t ask Tony where we were going because I assumed he knew where this park was since he suggested we go, but as he were driving, I started to see things that looked familiar; I quickly realized we were going to the Potomac Point Winery. I was super excited because we had been there before and had had a great experience. 

While talking and feeding each other, (totally romantic) Tony asked me, “What % of love do you have for me?” I replied,”I’d say about 75% or so”, to which, of course, he said, “WHAT?!?!..WHY!?” I told him that though we had had a good run these past 4.5 yrs and he had made vast improvements from where we began, there is always room for growth. Then, I asked him the same question. His reply? “Probably around 65%” to which I quickly replied “Excuse me?” I was not expecting that at all! As he began to explain, I was only half-listening because I was lost in thought. The next thing I heard was, “…will you marry me?”I couldn’t stop crying, and couldn’t see that Tony opened the box to present the ring to me. I couldn’t see anything! *Ladies, in future make sure you can see the goods before saying YES! I totally did not follow this rule. He slipped the ring on, while I blurted out, “Are you sure this is what you want to do with the rest of your life?” lol. Only me!!! 

As I held out my hand, and slowly looked down, I screamed “AHH!!..YOU DO LOVE ME!!” Lol. I was pleasantly surprised because in our 4.5 yrs of being together, Tony and I had spent no more than 5 minutes looking/trying on rings. I was always semi-worried that I was going to end up with a ring pop. Needless to say he did GREAT. We called our folks (who already knew because Tony had already asked both my parents for their blessing); all were super excited.”

The Theme ….. “The theme we were going for with our engagement pictures was modern-elegance. We wanted to have a fashionable shoot that would hold up through the years and, someday, allow us to brag to our kids about how good we looked when we were younger. We had our good friends, Jameson Deloatch and Tony Colden, style our engagement photo shoot. They did an unbelievable job and helped us achieve the look we were going for. We chose Old Town Alexandria as our first location because of its beautiful and historic setting. Old Town Alexandria offers a multitude of options for locations and our photographer Melissa found a great spot for us to use as a backdrop. We also chose Reagan National Airport for our second location because of our love of travel. We thought it would be fun to reenact a day at the airport and had a fantastic time with it.”

{You Make Loving You So Easy}

He loves ….. “The one thing Tony loves most about Taryn is her positive mentality on life. She has a way of encouraging others around her without even knowing it. He knows that no matter what obstacles he may face in life, with Taryn by his side, he can’t be defeated.”

She loves ….. “The one thing I love most about Tony is his genuine positivity and caring nature. I honestly don’t think he has a malicious bone in his body. He always looks out for others no matter how many times they have let him down because he sees the good or potential in them.”