Gina & Jake // Fall Engagement Session, Minnehaha Dog Park Minneapolis MN
Gina & Jake are that couple that you can tell just 'click'. A mutual friend must have thought the same thing when she set them up, thinking that they would either make a great couple, or be so similar it would be a complete disaster. (Spoiler alert: they were in fact a great couple!) Their engagement story is one for the books and is straight out of a romantic movie. Let's just say that Jake set the bar pretty high (no pun intended, he's a lawyer).
Gina and Jake were on vacation in Mexico with a group of some of their closest friends. The night of the proposal, the group went out for a late dinner. Around 10 pm, Jake asked Gina if she wanted to go to bed early because he was tired. Also exhausted, Gina enthusiastically agreed. Back in the hotel room, Gina fell asleep watching Anaconda 3 on the tv because it was the only thing in english. Around 11pm, Jake woke her up and said that everyone was still hanging out on the beach playing cards and asked if she wanted to join. Not wanting to be a party pooper, Gina reluctantly agreed.
As they walked towards the edge of the beach, Jake told her one of their friends texted him saying they had a surprise for Gina and that she needed to close her eyes. Now, Gina knew these friends far too well and was not about to get thrown into the ocean for a practical joke, so she refused. Jake had to practically beg her to close her eyes and eventually, she did. He led her blindly across the beach while she grumbled about wanting to open her eyes the entire way. When they stopped, Jake told Gina to open her eyes she saw him down on one knee and a bunch of tea lights arranged in the sand to spell "Marry Me?" in large letters. Jake asked the question, Gina was so shocked and didn't hear a thing, but just started saying "YES!" repeatedly. As soon as the ring was on her finger, they heard the pop of a bottle opening and their friends rushed out of the darkness with champagne. The group toasted to a happily ever after while Gina showed off her ring and the guys all congratulated Jake on his planning and excellent proposal.
Gina and Jake love to take their Shiba Inu mix, Jon (who makes a few great appearances in their engagement session!) to explore lots of great dog parks in the metro area. They also love to visit breweries together, though Gina is more of a porters and stouts gal, while Jake prefers his IPA's, which makes for great variety in beer tasting! They are big movie buffs who try to make it to a drive-in-movie once a year (p.s. that is adorable and everyone should do that). As a couple, the two share love of the classic early 2000's artists (BSB, Goo Goo Dolls, Train, etc). I guess what I'm saying is that if we were to road trip together, I'm certain our playlists would be identical matches of epically awesome music.
With Minnesota's abnormally warm fall, we "patiently" waited for the colors to peak to do their engagement photos and wow did they deliver! Gina and Jake (and their pup Jon of course) are frequent visitors to the Minnehaha Dog Park, which is why they chose this location for their photos. We headed to the Falls area to wrap up the session at the gardens and Sea Salt Eatery, where the two had a relaxing dinner date after the session.
So beyond excited for their upcoming wedding in June! Gina and Jake, I may just have to jam out to some BSB at your wedding. Regardless of my bad dance moves, their day is sure to be just as amazing as this couple and their story is.
