There is just something about getting to photograph a couple in places that feel like them, and Emma and Wyatt’s engagement session was the perfect mix of a little dressed up and a little bit country. We started their evening at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City, and these two showed up dressed to impress. Emma wore the prettiest teal dress while Wyatt coordinated perfectly in navy, and against the classic architecture of the Capitol, they looked so good together!
Like most couples who step in front of my camera, Emma and Wyatt were a little shy at first. But it didn’t take long before those nerves started melting away! The more we walked around the Capitol, the more they settled into each other, and I started getting to see their personalities come out. One of my favorite things about these two is how easily Wyatt can make Emma smile! Before long, the nervous smiles turned into real laughs, and these two were getting pretty dang cute and giddy with each other!
After finishing up downtown, we traded the grand columns of the Capitol for something completely different and headed out toward Emma’s family farm in Taos, Missouri. The evening had given us a pretty overcast and gloomy sky, so instead of chasing golden hour, we wandered around the property looking for little pockets of that soft, pretty light. And I honestly love how it all came together! We made our way down to their pond, stopped beneath some of the huge gorgeous trees around the property, and explored different spots around the farm. By this point in the evening, Emma and Wyatt had completely relaxed in front of my camera!
And that’s when the magic happened! They laughed, they danced, and they had fun with each other. We ended their session on top of a hill near the barn, surrounded by the place that has been such a meaningful part of Emma’s life! There wasn’t a big dramatic sunset or glowing golden sky, but we didn’t need one. I always tell my couples that you don’t have to know how to pose in front of a camera when you show up. You just have to relax and have fun together! Emma and Wyatt started the evening a little nervous and ended it dancing on top of a hill, laughing together and completely forgetting about me and my camera! That is exactly what I want an engagement session to feel like.
Emma and Wyatt, I had the best time exploring Jefferson City and your family farm with you two! I loved getting to watch you come out of your shells as the evening went on, and I already know your wedding day is going to be such a special one!!
How They Met
Sometimes you accidentally get a job working for your future mother-in-law before you’ve even met her son! That’s exactly how Emma and Wyatt’s story began, and I love how many little pieces had to fall into place for these two to find each other! It all started in the fall of 2022 during Emma’s senior year of high school. At the time, she was considering pursuing accounting and wanted to get some real world experience before deciding if it was the path for her. Her grandpa suggested she reach out to their family’s CPA, who also handled the accounting for Scruggs Lumber, to see if she needed any extra help during the upcoming tax season. So Emma emailed Jackie Forck at Seaver & Forck CPAs, landed herself an interview, and by early November, she had a new job!
Meanwhile, another Forck was about to enter the picture! Around the same time Emma started working at the accounting firm, a guy named Wyatt Forck happened to pop up on her Instagram. Emma noticed they had quite a few mutual friends, saw that he had graduated from Helias and that he was into wrestling, so she gave him a follow. What she didn’t know? Wyatt was her new boss’s son. And somehow, it gets even better!! Apparently Jackie had been going home and talking about the new girl at the office and how much she enjoyed having Emma there. Wyatt eventually noticed the name Emma Scruggs on Instagram and started putting the pieces together!
On December 21, 2022, Emma received a message from Wyatt that said, “Hey, odd question, but do you work at Seaver & Forck?” Emma asked why, and Wyatt finally revealed, “Because my mom mentioned an Emma Scruggs that she hired. My mom is Jackie.” I mean, come one! At the time, Wyatt was in his first year at State Technical College of Missouri studying welding. Emma had simply been trying to figure out whether she liked accounting, and instead she accidentally found her future husband! They started messaging that day, and haven’t stopped talking since!
About a month later, on January 20, 2023, Emma and Wyatt made plans to meet up! Earlier that evening, Emma was having dinner with her aunts, Stephanie and Jennifer, and her sister, Grace. When she casually mentioned that she was meeting up with a boy she’d been talking to later that night, naturally everyone responded with something along the lines of, “Awwww, your first date!” Emma immediately corrected them, saying, “It’s not a date!” Spoiler alert, it was definitely a date! And not only was it a date, but January 20 would eventually become the anniversary they celebrate as the beginning of their relationship. They met at the movie theater in Jefferson City, and when Emma walked inside, Wyatt had already purchased both of their tickets. This was the first guy Emma had ever gone out with, so understandably, she was nervous. But those nerves didn’t last very long. They talked through all of the previews, and once the movie started, Wyatt put his arm around her. After the movie, he walked Emma back to her car, opened her door for her, gave her a hug and thanked her for going out with him. And one of my favorite little details? Wyatt still opens her car door for her today!
Emma remembers how natural everything felt from the very beginning. Even though they had just met, it somehow felt like they’d known each other forever! She found herself constantly looking forward to the next time she’d get to see him. There was just one tiny problem. They apparently weren’t on the same page about whether they were actually dating. About a month later after the movie, Emma finally brought up making their relationship official, only to discover that Wyatt had assumed they’d already been dating since that first night at the movies! So there was technically never a big “Will you be my girlfriend?” moment. January 20, 2023, simply became the start of Emma + Wyatt!
Over the next few years, that immediate connection grew into a relationship where both of them found not only the person they loved, but their best friend! When I asked Wyatt when he knew Emma was the one, he said it was when he realized he could completely be himself around her. She’s become his biggest supporter, his best friend and the person who can always make him laugh. In his words, choosing to spend forever with Emma was the easiest decision he’s ever made! Emma’s answer was pretty similar. For her, it was realizing Wyatt had become the first person she wanted to tell whenever something good happened. He’s the person who can make her laugh after a long day and the person she wants beside her through all of life’s big moments and all of the ordinary ones! Emma’s life simply feels more complete with Wyatt in it! And I think you can see that when you’re around these two.
Wyatt admires Emma’s work ethic, intelligence and the way she so naturally cares for the people she loves. Emma admires Wyatt’s thoughtfulness, loyalty and determination, especially the way he consistently shows up for the people who matter to him! They’re also the kind of couple who don’t need elaborate plans to have a good time together. They can genuinely do absolutely nothing and still enjoy being together. But when they are adventuring, they love being outside and hiking around mid Missouri. They also have a pretty cool goal of visiting all 50 states together, along with checking international destinations off their bucket list! And when they’re home? Give them a good crime or mystery series, or an NFL game so they can keep tabs on their fantasy football teams, and they’re pretty content!
How He Asked
Then, in August 2026, Wyatt decided it was time for their biggest adventure yet! The Birthday Photoshoot That Wasn’t Just a Photoshoot. Emma’s birthday is August 6, and this year Wyatt gave her a handwritten letter explaining that he had planned a couples photoshoot for them on August 8 at Runge Conservation Nature Center in Jefferson City. Now, Emma had always told Wyatt that whenever he proposed, she really wanted the moment photographed. So obviously, her mind immediately went there. She straight up asked Wyatt if he was proposing. And Wyatt apparently has a much better poker face than I would have given him credit for because he responded, “No, it’s just for your birthday, but that would’ve been a really good idea.” So Smooth Wyatt!! He acted completely normal and convincing enough that Emma actually dropped it.
Instead of wondering whether she was about to get engaged, she moved on to a much more immediate emergency. She didn’t have a new dress for the pictures. With basically no warning to shop, Emma raided her best friend’s sister’s closet the next day and somehow managed to find the perfect dress!! By Saturday afternoon, she had done her hair and makeup and headed to the session genuinely believing they were simply getting some nice updated photos together. They had worked with the same photographer a couple of years earlier, which made the entire thing feel even more normal. They walked out to a beautiful landscape and started taking pictures. Nothing suspicious and nothing unusual. Then their photographer asked Wyatt to spin Emma. So he spun her. Then she asked them to do it again and they spun a second time. And then, one more time! Emma spun around for the third time, turned back toward Wyatt, And this time, he was on one knee!!
After being so convinced that a proposal wasn’t happening, Emma was completely caught off guard. But, of course, she said YES!! Apparently all of those engagement ring reels Emma had been casually sending him on Instagram hadn’t gone unnoticed either . Wyatt had been paying attention the entire time and managed to choose exactly what Emma had dreamed of. She got her dream guy and her dream ring! Nicely done, Wyatt!!
After finishing their session, this time as fiances, Emma and Wyatt headed to church and then went to her parents house for dinner. When they arrived, Emma’s dad met them in the garage and casually asked how their pictures went. Instead of answering, Emma simply held up her left hand! Except her dad wasn’t surprised at all! Wyatt had asked for his blessing weeks earlier, and Emma’s dad had somehow managed to keep the entire thing a secret. He hadn’t even told Emma’s mom! When her mom eventually walked into the garage and noticed the ring, she immediately wrapped Emma in a hug!
Next stop was Wyatt’s parents’ house. They sat down at the kitchen island, and it didn’t take long for Jackie, the same Jackie who unknowingly helped start this entire love story years earlier, to notice something different about Emma’s hand. “What’s that big shiny thing on your finger?!” His parents were so excited to officially welcome Emma into their family!! And the celebrating still wasn’t finished. Emma had already made plans to go to her aunt’s house that evening because, remember, she genuinely didn’t think she was getting engaged that day. So they headed there to celebrate before Emma FaceTimed her best friend to show off the ring and share the news!! What started as an innocent birthday photoshoot ended with Emma going home a fiancée.
There are so many things I love about Emma and Wyatt’s story, but I think my favorite is just how naturally it unfolded. Emma took a job because she thought she might want to become an accountant. Her boss went home and mentioned how much she liked the new girl at work. Her son happened to recognize that girl’s name on Instagram. One message turned into another. A “not-a-date” at the movie theater turned into their anniversary. And the guy Emma started talking to in December 2022 became the person she can’t wait to marry!!
Now they’re planning a wedding surrounded by the family and friends who have watched their relationship grow over the last several years. Emma can’t wait to finally see all of their planning come together and celebrate with the people they love most. And Wyatt? He’s most excited to watch Emma walk down the aisle and finally get to call her his wife.
I am so excited to document this next chapter for these two and cannot wait to see them officially become husband and wife!
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