Real Engagements {Connecticut}: Ashli & Reginald!

Ashli and Reggie met for the first time in 2009 as neighbors in their condo complex. From time to time they’d pass each other in the parking lot and occasionally had small talk. Four years later, Ashli found a business card on her car, Reggie had finally asked her out on a date. Although for the next year their schedules would keep them apart, a big snow storm in February of 2013 brought them together. Check out their intimate themed engagement session which featured a few of their favorite things, captured by TimeFrozen Photography.

Bride: Ashli Esteves, 34, Procurement Specialist

Groom: Reginald Nelson, 35, IT Consultant

Place of residence: Hartford, CT

Engagement Shoot Location: Mission Fitness, Max Fish, Riverfront Park

Wedding date: 9/2/16

Engagement story:

In early August of 2015, Reggie planned a four-day proposal, where they relived a number of their first dates. It started Thursday night at their go-to frozen yogurt place. Then Friday they had oysters and Moscow mules at Max Fish, their favorite happy hour spot. And Sunday they had brunch at Berry farm in town. Later that weekend, Reggie found a place that they had never been, Riverfront Park. He planned a picnic, where they snacked on their favorite foods. After they ate, they walked around the park, where they talked how their relationship had evolved over the years. Along the way, Reggie asked Ashli which food she’d say represented their relationship, and her response was, of course, chocolate chip cookies. She didn’t realize at this moment Reggie was actually munching on one of his homemade chocolate chip cookies, and he had stopped in front of this gorgeous fountain. While standing there, he brought to her attention that it was no coincidence that over the course of the weekend, he had taken her to all of the places where they shared their first memories. As he got down on one knee, he told her that Riverfront Park was a place for a new memory, and then Reggie asked Ashli to be his wife.

For the Groom: Walk us through the behind the scenes of creating this special day

I had been preparing for several months before the right opportunity came along to propose to Ashli. In speaking with friends, they had convinced me that I should do my best to capture this moment on camera. My thought was to dedicate a weekend to take Ashli on a walk down memory lane. After a very busy summer, we finally had a free weekend where we did not have any plans and that’s when I took advantage and put things into motion. Over the course of the weekend, we stopped at several of our favorite places. On Sunday afternoon I brought her on a picnic to a park we had never been before. Once we started to walk towards the fountain I saw that the photographer was in place. From there, we laughed, we cried, ate chocolate chip cookies and put a ring on it.

What makes your love special?

Sharing the same interests as well as the same love language makes our love special to us. We have learned how to speak each other’s language which has given us the ability to fulfill our emotional needs. This is how we’ve been able to maintain a happy and healthy relationship.

What was the theme of your shoot?

The theme of our shoot was “A few of Our Favorite Things”. We love working out, so we started at our gym, Mission Fitness, then we went to our favorite happy hour spot, Max Fish, next we baked chocolate chip cookies in our home, and finished at Riverfront Park where we got engaged.