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DILLON + LUCY // cozy in-home St. Louis engagement

When Dillon Met Lucy

To know Dillon and Lucy is to know pure love. They’ve been together since high school, but even after 11 years and long-distance stretches while they both pursued different college experiences, they still look at each other like they’re in the honeymoon phase. These days they’re settling into a new city and nurturing their first home together. Both are big milestones they wanted to incorporate in their engagement session.

A New Life in St. Louis

Throughout most of their lives, ‘home’ for both Dillon and Lucy was in Indianapolis. Just a few years into moving away, they’re excited by all their new home in St. Louis has to offer and Lafayette Park is becoming one of their favorite spots. We started their engagement session here to bottle up a bit STL to send to their families back in Indy.

Inside Their Cozy Home Routine

Between work and studies, Dillon and Lucy cherish quality time together at home, and cooking is among their favorite shared activities. On any given night or weekend morning, you can find Dillon and Lucy crafting something in their cozy retro kitchen with meal-themed music playing the background. (Jack Johnson for breakfasts obviously.) On this particular night they made homemade pizza to the beat of a feel-good indie mix. But regardless of what’s on the menu, once it’s ready they savor it together at the table while they debrief their day. Most importantly, (as Lucy’s tiny cone tattoo can attest) before cleaning up the dishes they enjoy an ice cream treat before bed. It’s the kind of steady routine that feels like home and getting to witness it unfold was a treat in itself.

When Water Met Fire

Somewhere in-between musings on the Noah Kahan song that popped into the playlist and deciding how much cheese to layer on their pizzas, we all fell into their daily trance. Long-term love brings a kind of effortless comfort that these two exudes in spades. And even though they’re opposites in many ways, witnessing how these two find balance around each other, their chemistry is undeniable. It’s inevitable. But want to hear something super wild?

Before every engagement session I send my couples a fun little quiz. In Dillon and Lucy’s answers, Lucy shared that Dillon is like water: calming, nurturing, intuitive and go-with-the-flow. Dillon described Lucy as fire: passionate and captivating. Completely unaware, we planned this session that encompassed both: pond-centric park pics before popping pizzas in a warm oven for a candlelit dinner.

Fire and water. Lucy and Dillon. Inevitable chemistry. 🤍

An Unposed Love Story

Before breaking out the pizza supplies, as we wandered Lafayette Park I got a sense of Dillon and Lucy’s quiet magic. But these moments here, the ones we froze in their cozy retro kitchen feel extra special. When they look back at these pics 20 years from now, they’ll see the first home they shared together and all the ‘firsts’ between its (uniquely curved) walls. They’ll smile at cameos from Ollie and Tootsie worming their way into the frame, each in their own way. But most importantly, I hope they see themselves – real, present + unposed. Given that at one point Lucy felt so at home that she forgot at one point we were taking pictures, I’m proud to know they will.


Dreaming of photos like this of your own?

I LOVE helping couples level-up their photo adventures and create images that are hyper-personalized. To learn more about the unique couple/engagement session experience I provide, get in touch with me HERE!


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