What do you get when two Physics PhD. students walk into a Glee club concert? I know that may sound like the beginning of a cheesy joke, but it was actually the beginning of Patrick and Charlotte’s relationship. These two met early on during their PhD career at Notre Dame. Patrick was a member of the Glee club during his undergraduate years, which made it the perfect place to take Charlotte on their first date. They will be getting married at the Basilica on campus, so it was only fitting they held their engagement session on campus as well!

These two got engaged while traveling through Italy last summer. Patrick was super nervous traveling with her engagement ring – especially traveling internationally. He kept his cool though because he had the perfect plan. He wanted to propose right at sunset in the city of Florence at the Piazzale Michaelango. If you’ve never been, it’s on a hill with a gorgeous view overlooking the city of Florence.

As they got to the top of the hill, there was a large basketball and volleyball tournament going on! It was super crowded and Patrick was worried the moment would be ruined. But he found a spot to pull Charlotte aside and proposed! Of course, she said yes. They barely caught the last bus to go out to a romantic Italian dinner to celebrate. When they got back to their hotel room they were able to call all of their family and tell them the good news!

Patrick is studying Nuclear Physics while Charlotte is studying Astronomy. I can’t wait to see how they incorporate these elements into their wedding day! Patrick was able to incorporate some of the space theme into Charlotte’s engagement ring. The center stone is surrounded by two Peridot stones from meteorites! How cool is that?!

During their engagement session we had the entire campus to ourselves! The day was pretty chilly and at one point a few snowflakes made an appearance. Their adorable, energetic dog, Bentley, even joined for a few photos too! We had so much fun and it made me even more excited for their winter wedding on campus.

I hope you enjoy a few of my favorite photos from their engagement session!