Sarah & Jeff
Date of Engagement: January 16, 2016
Location of Engagement: Mill Falls, Meredith, NH
Photos courtesy Red Hill Photography
Traditional engagements include a groom-to-be down on one knee asking a surprised and tearfully happy bride-to-be to marry.
Surprised is definitely the word to describe Sarah, when her boyfriend, Jeff, proposed on a snowy Saturday in Meredith, NH.
Says Sarah, “I had NO idea! We had been talking about getting engaged, but he had me convinced that it wouldn’t happen for at least another year! He was SO convincing. I found out after the fact that he had been texting with the photographer (Red Hill Photography) the night before and at breakfast right before he proposed. As we walked up to the footbridge (at Mill Falls), I was pretty unhappy because I had just slipped in the snow and the shop we were going to could’ve easily been reached by going through the hotel instead of walking all the way around the hotel—it was cold! After he proposed, Jeff had to ask if I wanted to put the ring on because I was in such a state of shock I didn’t know what to do!”
Jeff and Sarah met while in college, and she recalls, “We couldn’t have been more different! We met our sophomore year, which is amazing because our college, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) isn’t that big of a school. As a matter of fact, my roommate was dating one of Jeff’s fraternity brothers. It was pretty crazy that we didn’t meet before then. It was pretty much crush at first sight, but it wasn’t until we were pitted against each other in a debate that we truly communicated with each other. We pretty much fought our way through the entire hour class, and I left in tears because I was so frustrated by this stubborn boy. Later that night we ran into each other on the way to a party with our respective friends. Two weeks later, we danced together at a party and have been inseparable ever since.”
Why did Jeff choose the Lakes Region to pop the question? Sarah explains, “I’ve been visiting the Lakes Region with my family since I was only a month old—I was even on the Sandwich (NH) Fair program cover when I was young! When Jeff and I started dating, we decided to make Mill Fall the place we visited to celebrate our anniversary. It became an incredibly special location to the two of us, because it was a place we could get away from all of our other worries. When we were at the Mill, nothing else mattered except the two of us. We have taken many photos over the years in front of the waterfall, and having our engagement photo there was the icing on the cake.”
The wedding planning started soon after the surprise engagement. Says Sarah, “I’ve always dreamed of planning a Mill Falls wedding. We booked Church Landing as a venue and set our date at the church within a few weeks of being engaged.”
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