Sleepy Hollow, New York
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A beautiful summer evening with Julia and Taylor along the Hudson River! In the week leading up to their session, there was significant rain in the forecast. In fact, the morning-of it absolutely poured! Thankfully the skies cleared and gave us an absolutely perfect night for engagement photos.
Julia and Taylor first met in school at Villanova University at the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year! As Julia tells it, “I decided to introduce myself to Taylor at a party because I knew through the grapevine that my dad’s best friend was Taylor’s high school lacrosse coach. Len sadly passed away last summer a few weeks before we got engaged, but he’s an important part of the reason why Taylor and I met in the first place. From there, it was a slow burn for us as I was actually seeing someone else when Taylor and I first met. We realized we were in the same major, so we took classes together and developed a strong friendship as the foundation of our relationship. Taylor and I ultimately started dating a few years later in January 2017, and the rest is history!”
Fast forward to the summer of 2022 when Julia and Taylor were living together in FiDi. “Taylor scoped out a great spot right off the West Side Highway with an amazing view of the Statue of Liberty to pop the question! Funny story actually — our pre-engagement dinner itself ended up being one of our most memorable to date. It was a muggy July night, about to rain and the restaurant he picked was al fresco (aka no AC) opening up to a beautiful public park area. When we got to dinner, we noticed there was a giant circle of folding chairs set up in the park that turned out to be for a “bongo drum night” community event. Our entire proposal video from after dinner is overtaken by the sound of bongo drums… which has now turned into a huge inside joke. Taylor ran by the exact spot the two previous weeks to vet the area leading up to the proposal, but bongo night was not an obstacle he saw coming.”
Julia’s ring is gorgeous, and exactly what she wanted! “It’s an oval diamond solitaire on a pave band, all set in platinum. Taylor and I went together to try on engagement rings back in April 2022 to get some ideas on what I liked most. I’m the kind of girl who likes to know all my options before I commit all in to something. We left the store with a better idea, but everything was solidified by some “subtle” instagram DMs of perfect examples. Taylor is such a supportive partner (it’s something I love most about him!) and he also takes directions quite well.”
These two moved to Sleepy Hollow, NY in September of 2022. Julia grew up in Scarsdale, NY and Taylor grew up in Cortlandt Manor, NY, so they knew we wanted to move to Westchester County to be closer to their families when they decided it was time to leave Manhattan.
“When we finally made the decision to move out of the city to Westchester, it was important to us to end up in a “river town” so we wouldn’t miss being near the water. I also swam across the Hudson River for charity in high school with close friends, so the Tappan Zee/Cuomo Bridge has always had a special place in my heart.”
In their spare time, Julia and Taylor love to lean in to relaxing and recharging. Beyond taking walks down by the river, they enjoy spending time with family and trying new restaurants around Westchester. As they’ve been looking for more activities they can do together, Taylor is a huge golfer so Julia has started picking up the game so she can hit the course with him. “You can also catch us lounging by the pool, working on our tans while reading a good book and wrapping that up just in time to usher in happy hour.”
I can’t wait to document Julia and Taylor’s special day next October at The Rockleigh, I know it’ll be an incredible celebration!
