Paige and Ben joined me in the charming town of Parkville, Missouri for their fall engagement session. It was a chilly and cloudy evening, but much to our surprise, the sun finally decided to peak out from behind the clouds and cast the most beautiful golden glow throughout the majority of their session. Paige and Ben were so fun to work with! Paige was always laughing and Ben couldn’t stop looking at Paige! These two share such a special connection and it’s easy to see with every portrait we took. I enjoyed strolling around a new area as we chased the sun and gorgeous light.
How They Met
Paige and Ben first (kinda) met each other in summer school before freshman year of high school. They had PE class together and Ben was on crutches with a broken foot. During class, he had to crutch around the track while the rest of the class ran, and Paige thought he was such a cutie. They didn’t end up physically meeting until Ben decided to “Snapchat” Paige, and from there, they started hanging out and formed a friendship. Paige was blind to his feelings for her until the night of their first Homecoming dance, where they danced and then hung out at the after party.
Their first “date” was not a textbook first date! They spent the evening in the basement of Paige’s best friend’s house on a double-date a couple weeks after they started talking. They watched movies until the boys’ parents came and picked them up (they were only 14 and 15 years old at the time.) Paige remembers feeling very nervous because she had never had a real boyfriend before, but she was also very excited because she already really liked Ben and she barely knew him! Ben was also nervous for the first date because he considered himself an awkward 14-year-old. Over time, it became clear to both Paige and Ben that they had found “the one!”
How He Asked
It all started in early July when Paige and Ben went ring shopping. The behind the scenes planning started then with talking to Paige’s parents, Ben’s parents, their siblings, and family and friends. After two months of planning, the day came. It was very difficult for Ben to keep the secret becasue of how many people were involved and in town. This made Ben incredibly nervous.
The day of, Paige was 99% sure that Ben was going to propose because (1) he made plans— something he never does—a reservation at a fancy rooftop bar in downtown KC, and (2) Paige knew he had the ring, and wanted to do it soon, and was running out of free weekends to do so. Early afternoon, they drove to the restaurant (The Percheron), and went inside. They were early, so Ben and Paige sat at the bar downstairs and got a mimosa. Ben let Paige pay for the mimosa—which she thought was weird and kind of threw her off a bit. Then, they took the elevator to the roof and there was not a soul in sight. Eventually, a cook came out of the kitchen and Ben said they had a reservation at 12–to which the cook responded, “Sorry, there’s a proposal at 12 so you’ll have to come back when we open at 3.” (Face-palm) So, then Paige knew 100% for sure that it was comin!
Ben was a little flustered from that, which was cute, but they eventually made their way out to the open rooftop where there was a cute area with a rug and plants. Paige and Ben walked over to that area, making awkward small-talk for the first time in YEARS (Ben was so nervous!!!). He then got down on one knee, gave a short and sweet speech, and asked Paige to marry him, to which Yes, replied yes, of course. Afterwards, they got a few minutes to themselves, but, unbeknownst to Paige, there were about 30 of her closest family and friends making their way up to the roof in the one tiny elevator (She later learned this was a logistics nightmare).
First to appear were their parents, which wasn’t too much of a surprise because Paige knew they were in town the day before because of Ben’s police academy graduation, but then, Paige’s sister and Ben’s brother walked around the corner and Paige was in tears. Then, her grandparents showed up. Then her two brothers. Then her friends from home. Then her friends from college. Then her friends from PT school (whom Ben had never met/talked to/she didn’t know he even knew their names!!!) They had a little rooftop party, then went to Paige’s favorite bar in KC—Up-Down. It was a perfect day!!
