Cooper and Brandon are such a lovely and fun pair! From the moment I arrived to her parent’s farm property, I knew the photos would be so gorgeous! Vibrant fall colors painted the leaves of the trees in every direction you looked. We had originally scheduled their session for two weeks before, but Cooper and Brandon wanted the vibrancy and pops of colors in their portraits. Luckily, we were able to move their session date back a few weeks. I’m so glad we did, because the colors were truly showing off the night of their session! With a picturesque background paired with such a giddy in love couple, my job was easier than ever! I loved how playful and silly they were one minute, and then taking in the quiet romantic moments the next. Copper and Brandon are such naturals and I’ll be counting down the days until I can have them back in front of my camera for their wedding next year.
How They Met
Cooper notes that meeting Brandon for the first time is a funny story; she met Brandon in her living room in 2015! He is her older brothers best friend and Bran came over to the house with Trey one weekend and that was the first time they officially met. But to clarify… Brandon and Cooper didn’t really have any interest in each other until years later… Labor day 2020 to be exact!
Years later after their first meeting, Cooper and Brandon would share their first official date in September 2020. They did breakfast at Mel’s in Jefferson City then hiking at Ha Ha Tonka State Park in Camdenton. Cooper recalls the first hour or so feeling kind of awkward and she was kind of nervous BUT then Brandon started singing “I Want To Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles and held out his hand…!!! Cooper busted out in laughter and that pretty much broke the ice and any awkwardness that she was feeling and the rest of the time was full of jokes and lots of laughter!
How He Asked
Cooper and Brandon usually go to Tablerock Lake in Branson, MO just about every weekend in the summer with her family. They always try to pick a weekend to have Bran’s family come up one weekend. They picked a (what Cooper thought was random) weekend for them to come up (the weekend of July 29th). Brandon told Cooper that his family has never been to Top of the Rock & they wanted to eat up there when they came down. This all seemed very normal to Cooper as Top of the Rock is a destination dinner location for people who don’t go to Branson often.
Cooper had a “cute” outfit packed because she knew they were going to this nice dinner. It wasn’t weird to Cooper at all that all of her family and all of Brandon’s family were together because she was the one who invited them! When they got to the Top of the Rock, their families went up to the restaurant to “get their reservation” and Brandon, his sister Anna, Anna’s fiancé Sam, and Cooper went to walk around the venue where there is a hill with an old stone church that overlooks the lake.
They walked around the outside of the church then went inside to check it out and when they came out, Brandon went around the side of the church (where they had already looked) so Cooper didn’t follow him. At this point Anna and Sam kind of walked the opposite way and Cooper just kind of hung out in front of the church. Brandon called Cooper’s name and told her to go over there; to which Cooper replied, “We were already over there, there isn’t anything over there!” AND SHE DIDN’T GO!!! If she only knew what was over there..) Brandon said “No really! Come over here!!”
So when Cooper walked around the corner he snatched her around her waist which caught her of guard. Cooper looked at Brandon and he had the most serious look on his face. In her head, she was thinking, “omg, are you ok??” Brandon began to say some of the sweetest things but honestly.. after about the first sentence, Cooper blacked out because she was in such SHOCK because she was realizing what the heck was happening!! Anna and Sam had snuck behind some bushes and trees to take pictures of the moment and all of their families were standing on a balcony up the hill and saw the whole thing from afar! Hours afterwards when Cooper’s heart rate came down and she had a chance to catch her breath and really think about what just happened, she had to ask Brandon “Did, I even say ‘Yes’?!” All in all, major kudos to Brandon! He made the whole thing so special for Cooper, kept it a surprise (Cooper didn’t even know he had been looking at rings, let alone BOUGHT ONE), had both of their families there to celebrate with them afterwards, really every aspect of the whole day was just perfect and so special!
