When I first met with Jessica, I was incredibly excited about the idea of working with she and her fiancé, Brian. They're a very sweet, laid-back couple, who dress crazy well and have a ton of personality! Jessica mentioned in our meeting that if we were going to do an engagement session, it would most definitely include Saniya, Brian's daughter. For me, I thought this was an awesome direction to take an engagement session. Sure, I'd snap a few of Jessica and Brian by themselves, but I absolutely loved the idea of including Saniya and having that family dynamic in their engagement photos. I promise you, it made these photos even better! We started our session out at the National Zoo, because Jessica and Brian had indicated the three of them went their at Christmastime and had a blast. I thought it was a fabulous idea and off we went traipsing about the zoo! I have to admit, it was hard for me to focus on taking some family photos at times because I am a huge animal lover and wanted to "ooh" and "aah" at the animals along with Jessica, Brian and Saniya. But I had to make sure to interact and pose with these three cuties as much as possible to get some stellar photos! My favorites at the zoo are definitely the laughing photos where Jessica, Brian and Saniya are being total goofballs.

The latter part of our session took place at the Bishops Garden at the National Cathedral, and Jessica, Brian and Saniya made sure to change into some really gorgeous outfits for a more formal look (I admittedly was a little obsessed with Jessica's orange vintage fascinator)! I was really excited that the garden was pretty lush and green, and even had a few tree blossoms to work with (our session was before the summer weather had set in!). My favorite photo from the garden was of Brian and Jessica in the stone doorway about to kiss, but runners up of course are going to be the photos with the three of them acting sassy and hilarious. These three really know how to turn out some gorgeous photos, and I'm sure you understand how hard it was for me to narrow them down!

Jessica, Brian and Saniya, thank you so much for joining me in such a fun family engagement session! I can't wait for the wedding later this year so I can photograph your smiling faces again! Enjoy!

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