Kayla & Scott
Crescent Park, Riverside, Rhode Island
May 18th, 2024
Whenever I book an engagement session, my one and only goal is for a bride and groom to walk out of that session feeling like the photos we took represent who they are and what their relationship is. That's why I jokingly tell my couples that all we're looking to do is grab two or three photos that they like and the rest of the session is a chance for us to get to know each other and practice for their wedding day.
Even though I hadn't really met Kayla and Scott prior to their May 2024 engagement session at Crescent Park in Riverside, Rhode Island, within four minutes of working together, I felt I knew them for years and knew what mattered most to them: Their loving relationships both with each other and with their daughter.
And that meant all I had to do was sit back and see how it all played out in front of the camera. Spoiler alert: it was adorable and so much fun.
My time with Kayla and Scott started with meeting their lovely daughter and her asking to be in as many photos as possible. I'm always a little weary of including children in engagement sessions as I find they can take away from the couple at the center of the shoot but anytime a kid is as fun to work with as Kayla and Scott's daughter was, I know it's only going to enhance the day and that was definitely the case here.
From our very first stop in Crescent Park, a beautiful little location in Riverside, Rhode Island, I could tell Kayla and Scott felt most like themselves when posing with their daughter and as long as we got a handful of nice shots of the two of them, I felt like we nailed the vibe of the day.
And boy did we ever.
Prior to Kayla and Scott's engagement session, I hadn't been to Crescent Park in so long that the last engagement session I did there was before I started blogging engagement sessions. Yes. That long.
Within moments, though, I really started to appreciate this little underrated gem in the eastern part of Rhode Island. I especially loved how everywhere we looked, there were little gifts from nature to use as backdrops and props for Kayla and Scott. And the couple certainly didn't mind either as they appeared to really warm up the longer we worked together.
If I had to pick on part of Kayla and Scott's engagement photo session that I loved the most, it would have to be the little sliver of time we spent following their first outfit change on a beautiful bench near some lovely, colorful flowers.
I haven't seen a ton of nice foliage or floral work this season so far so to see such a beautiful setup in Crescent Park just screamed "ideal location" and the photo of Kayla with her arms around Scott was easily my favorite shot of the whole day.
One of the things I liked the most about Kayla and Scott was I could tell just by talking to them that they're a couple who knows exactly what they want and they're not shy about letting you know. That's why I could tell about an hour into our session together that this couple was getting a bit worn out from posing and, as I always do, I told them to just give me a heads up before we packed it in so I could wrap up with a couple of nice spots.
And that's how the final few minutes of our time together ended up all over the last few scenic locations of Crescent Park.
Honestly, I was just glad the pair stuck it out long enough for us to hit the beach area as that was where I wanted to close their session and it made for the perfect spot to call it a day.
As Kayla, Scott and I headed back to our cars following their engagement session, I couldn't help but think how much fun it is to rediscover awesome photo locations you haven't been to in years and how great it is to take new couples to them.
I especially love getting to know future brides and grooms and getting to see how they'll be on their wedding day and, in this regard, I know Kayla and Scott are going to be a ton of fun to work with in 2025. So thank you Kayla and Scott for a wonderful engagement session. I can't wait to get together all over again and see if we can top it and, honestly, I'm confident we can. See you next year!