Utah State Capitol Engagement Session | Melanie + Chayston

This is about to be Melanie and Chayston’s story. As told by Melanie. Prepare yourself.

“On August 27th Chayston and I met on an LDS app called Mutual. Never in a million years did we think that we would marry someone from online, but the second we started talking we haven’t stopped. A week of phone calls, texting, and FaceTiming led to our first date. Chayston lived in Ogden and I lived in Logan so he had to come up for our first date. Luckily that Friday was September 1st AKA “True Aggie Night,” so I thought it would be fitting for our first date. (Get the awkward first kiss out of the way!) Fortunately when our first date/kiss came there was nothing awkward about it. It felt different for the both of us and we really wanted to give a shot at a relationship despite the long distance.

“Since then we have spent every weekend together and weekdays if we could get away, so basically any chance that we can get. We enjoy spontaneous adventures and spending time with our families. Hiking, long drives, and midnight food runs are some of our favorite activities together. Our relationship has moved at a fast pace since our first date and continues to only get better. We have had our bumps but the miracle of finding each other and the love we have has helped us past them. On November 19th we celebrated our birthday together (yes the same day)! Chayston always talks about how big of a miracle “we” are, especially when considering our unexpected online meeting.

The Proposal

“A few short weeks after our birthday and after some really good conversations about marriage, Chayston proposed on the 16th of December. We spent the night up in Salt Lake with both of our families and went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert. I thought he would propose in Salt Lake because I began to suspect it throughout the night. Little did I know, Chayston was in cahoots with my best friend/roommate who was setting up candles and lights at my parent’s house during the concert. When we got back home, my parents dropped us off and said they needed to go to Walmart. When we walked in, my fireplace was all lit up with pictures of us hung around. Chayston pulled out a photo-book that he made and we looked at it, both shaking and sweating. After looking through the book, Chayston reached behind him and grabbed the box, he knelt down, opened the box, and popped the question. Obviously I said yes, he slipped on the ring and we danced to our favorite song. It was the perfect night!”

And now, on to a few of my favorite images from their fabulous session at the Utah State Capitol: