A Winter Engagement in Downtown Chicago

It was the spring time at University of Saint Francis when these two met doing team workouts together. However, they didn’t actually speak to one another until Katarina was a junior and Kyle was a senior.

They started chatting on Snapchat when Covid hit making it hard to see each other. Kyle was set to graduate and move to Cleveland so they weren’t sure if it would become serious. For a few months, they got to know each other on the phone and once Spring was nearing its end, they hung out officially for the first time. Katarina + Kyle got Moe’s to-go and ate outside at a picnic table. The low-key date was perfect for them. By the time Katarina was driving home from their date, she knew Kyle was destined to be her husband.

Kyle and Katarina’s family took a trip down to Gatlinburg for a few days in the middle of Christmas season (and Katarina was sure he wasn’t going to propose because they had another trip in Cabo already planned.) On the third day of their trip, Katarina’s sister said she was having “back problems” so her and her mom decided to meet them later that night. In the meantime, Kyle, Katarina and her father spent the afternoon shopping, wine tasting, and touring a local whiskey distillery. As soon as the afternoon approached, they had gotten a text from Katarina’s mom about a new AirBnb her sister bought and needed photos of, so they took to take a quick detour to check it out.

As they approached, Katrina saw a tree-house filled property decorated in twinkling Christmas lights. Kyle quickly jumped out of the car because he had to “use the restroom”. Katarina didn’t think anything of it. Still oblivious, Katrina’s parents had told her to go ahead, they’ll catch up. As she approached, Katrina was met with rose petals, warm lights, and candles. Kyle stood at the porch’s end with a ring box in his hand. Needless to say, she was surprised and so delighted!

Enjoy this gorgeous engagement session in some of our favorite Chicago portrait spots, captured beautifully by Hayley Moore Photography.