bettina + donavin, a cinematic engagement session in Downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan

An engagement session is a way of illustrating your love story. For some couples, that means taking photos in a favorite park. For others, it means revisiting where they first met. For Bettina and Donavin, illustrating their love story involved mastering a specific vision. This vision included hosting their engagement session in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they've shared many dates, and it also meant achieving a very unique aesthetic in order to appropriately and subtly tie in their shared love of reading. In my notes from their consultation, I wrote this brief description of what they were hoping for in their photos:

"Cinematic/Romantic. Grain and black-and-white. Wedding: Moody/bookish. Fairy tale."

This aesthetic is one that we captured flawlessly.

In fact, when Bettina sent me inspiration images and told me that they'd like to take their photos in downtown Grand Rapids, I immediately knew which streets had the best architecture for their iconic vision of cinematic romance. The Ledyard Building (my favorite building in downtown Grand Rapids) had to be part of the session somehow. Actually, the entire block that the Ledyard Building sits on was calling - no, shouting - our names.

Bettina and Donavin's outfits were just as crucial to pulling off their desired aesthetic as the location of their engagement session was. In order to receive a gallery of photos resembling scenes from the pages of a romance novel, their outfits needed to be exceptional. To the surprise of no one, they were just that and beyond. As Bettina and Donavin walked toward me from across a parking lot at the start of their city session, they appeared as though they had just stepped off a movie set. I'm talking a blockbuster, Notebook, Sleepless in Seattle, Pretty Woman type of classic. Bettina took my breath away in a strapless, satin white dress with mesh sleeves and chunky cream heels while Donavin stunned in a coordinating collared shirt and dress pants. My jaw could have fallen right to the ground as I admired their perfectly clean-cut outfits and neutral color palette.

All throughout their session and ever since it ended, I have constantly found myself struck by the beauty of Bettina and Donavin's love for one another. I have come to the conclusion that these two could be picked up out of 2025 and placed in the fifties or twenties instead. Somehow, they would still find each other. My mind flips between a few concepts when looking through their engagement gallery: timelessness, reincarnation, and this quote by Kazuo Ishiguro that - upon reading it - immediately made me reflect on both my own life and on how Bettina and Donavin first met in high school.

"There was another life that I might have had, but I am having this one."

Isn't that just so beautiful?

There are several moments in my own life that I can pinpoint as "turning moments." Moments where my life branched from its original timeline and headed in a completely different, and often somewhat unexpected, direction. Like how I once considered a career as a child life specialist only to almost fail a college biology course two times in a row, leading me to switch majors and career paths. Or, how spontaneously attending a silly party on campus allowed me to meet my husbabe. And how meeting my now-husband that fateful night also brought forth the most refreshing new friendships and a level of comfort and safety I had never experienced before.

One of the most prominent branches that I can think of in my own life involves working at an event rental company while living with my parents after college. I absolutely hated this job, and the longer I worked there, the more depressed I became. At the time, I had been considering a career in the event industry, having previously worked at a conference center for four years and having loved every minute of my time there. This specific job was a complete 180 from the conference center though, and eventually, I hit a breaking point. In a moment of desperation, I made the decision to finally commit to photography, something I had been loving on the side ever since receiving my first camera in the third grade.

I'm sure if I really sat down to think back on the rest of my life, I could find hundreds - if not thousands - of life decisions that helped lead me to where I am now. Every choice is a chance at a new life, and I'm so incredibly grateful for all of the turning moments that have brought me to today, to this moment of working from home, being paid to photograph timeless loves like Bettina's and Donavin's, and to spending my days and nights with my best friend.

There was another life that I might have had. There are millions of other lives that I might have had. But I am having this one, and I'm so much better for it.

Now, they can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain that the same can be said about Bettina and Donavin's lives. I mean, as I mentioned before, these two first met in high school. After graduation, they fell out of touch, but something - be it an invisible string or a million different turning moments - brought them back together years later. I suspect that several individual choices were made on both their parts to make their love story possible and to write this beautiful chapter of bliss and togetherness.

After an engagement session full of laughter and bustling city streets, Bettina and Donavin now have a gallery filled with images celebrating those countless life decisions. Photos that showcase their cinematic romance and timeless love for one another. Photos that honor the many date nights that paved the way to their engagement, and photos that - thanks to Bettina and Donavin's genuine emotion and connection - will tell their story for years to come.

There was another life they each might have had. There were millions of lives they each might have had. But they are having this one, together, and boy, does it look beautiful on them. 🖤

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A few of my typical side notes:

• Pábitel Photography is now on Bluesky!

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