Summertime in Columbia, Missouri brings scorching heat and humidity but with that brings the opportunity to document couples in the gorgeous summer light! During my session with the adorable couple, Jenna and Dillon, we explored the beautiful Capen Park and Stephens Lake Park. Despite the sweltering weather, their infectious energy and unwavering love created a truly memorable experience, allowing us to capture stunning moments.
I loved how much fun Jenna and Dillon had with each other. Laughter was ever present and their smiles were infectious! They strolled around the park hand and hand giddy as ever. Capen Park has a lot to offer and we explored it all. As the evening was nearing sunset, we ventured to Stephens Lake Park where the sky was showing off that night. Jenna and Dillon were such a joy to photograph and I couldn’t help but keep snapping away at all the adorable moments that unfolded.
How They Met
Jenna and Dillon officially first met at a Halloween party in 2018! A couple of their close friends were throwing a Halloween party at their house in Illinois. Jenna’s friend Bayleigh (who was also attending the party) texted her beforehand and was trying to set her up with Dillon. Bayleigh is great judge of character and she knows Jenna better than anyone, so Jenna definitely wanted to at least meet him! Dillon and Jenna already had close mutual friends and grew up in the same small town, but had somehow never officially met (he says he was too shy to talk to Jenna.)
Jenna had been living in the St. Louis area for about four years at that point. She moved there for college, and stayed in the area after she accepted a job following graduation. Dillon and Jenna are both from Mackinaw, a small town in central Illinois. Bayleigh told Jenna that Dillon just so happened to have moved down to the St. Louis area in October for a job a couple weeks prior! Seth (Bayleigh’s boyfriend at the time, now husband) invited him to the halloween party and texted Dillon trying to set him up with Jenna. He told Dillon that Jenna was cool and down to earth and thought the two of them would get along well.
Dillon was most nervous for what Jenna would think about his costume since he already had his outfit planned for the party. For the Halloween party, Jenna was dressed as a mermaid and she brought her dog Guinness with her, who was dressed as a pirate. Jenna was anxious for Dillon to get there, trying to think of how to start a conversation! He walked in wearing a huge inflatable dinosaur costume. She thought he was so handsome which didn’t help her nerves! They ended up starting a conversation about her dog and also their love for scary movies/shows. They immediately hit it off and were inseparable and talking all night!
Their first official ‘date’ was a few days after the Halloween party. They were both back in the St. Louis area and she invited Dillon over and planned to cook dinner for them at my apartment. Jenna was trying to speed clean and figure out what she could cook and not mess up. She remembers getting butterflies when seeing him again, and it just felt natural and fun the whole time! Jenna thinks she knew then that this wasn’t just going to be some kind of short fling. She remembers making them a salad that had kale in it, and Dillon had no idea what kale was. They still joke about it to this day. She’s had him try a lot of new foods since they’ve been together. Dillon felt nervous for their first ‘date’. He was basically still living out of a suitcase at the time at his good friend’s house. But once he got to Jenna’s, things felt natural and they clicked and had a lot of fun. The food was delicious and he felt at ease and optimistic that there would be a great future ahead of them!
The One
Jenna knew Dillon was the one very soon after they started dating, probably a few months. They pretty much moved in together in her apartment at the time after only a couple weeks of officially ‘meeting’. They wanted to be together all the time so they figured he just should stay with Jenna! At the time, he was living and working about an hour away from where she was. They had a lot of similar interests and never ran out of things to talk about. They were happy to just be around each other and had fun no matter what they were doing. Jenna knew he was the one when they decided to get a dog together after being together for only 3 months. She didn’t even question it or have any doubts about it! Dillon knew about 3 months in that he was really in love with Jenna and could see a long future with her.
How He Asked
Jenna and Dillon had planned their first vacation with just the two of them. They were staying at Cocoa Beach, Florida because they wanted to go to a reggae concert together. A lot of their favorite bands don’t make it to the midwest very often, and they had been dying to spend some time on the beach! Jenna was so excited for the vacation, and was not expecting the proposal at all. She had been working from home since COVID, so she did not think he would have the time to get a ring without her knowing! They had also just gotten a house together in November 2021, so she was not expecting him to want to spend the money on a ring purchase any time soon.
They planned their vacation to Cocoa Beach before Dillon had the ring or knew he was going to propose there. He knew it would be a great time to propose while they were there. Dillon was luckily able to get a ring one of the very few times Jenna was not home and out of town for the weekend. He was very nervous the day they left for vacation because he had the ring hidden in his carry on and hoped traveling went smoothly.
They got to Cocoa Beach and checked into our adorable Air bnb. They were starving so Jenna went to the bathroom before they left to find food. Dillon thought now is the time, he wanted to be engaged already! Jenna came out of the bathroom and Dillon said ‘There’s only one more thing to make this vacation perfect’, and he got down one one knee and asked Jenna to marry him right there! She was in shock. Jenna kept saying, is this really happening?! Of course she said yes and they both were crying and it was a really sweet moment. Dillon had a whole speech planned but completely forgot what he had planned to say because he was so nervous. Jenna was so surprised he had not seemed nervous at all the entire day. Then they called and let all of their close friends and family know, who were anxiously awaiting to hear if Dillon had popped the question yet! They went to a local bar on the beach and the staff celebrated with them and someone even dressed up in an inflatable shark costume for fun to take pictures with us (Jenna LOVE sharks) it felt meant to be!! And inflatable costumes seem to always pop up on important dates for them!!
