It started with one of my AGP Poster Couples, Phil & Megan. Megan’s been around since the veeeery early days of Abby Grace Photography- back when I only had a blogsite, when I still watermarked my images, and when my hair was still above my shoulders. They were the first couple who I photographed for their engagement, wedding, AND anniversary. (Also, can we talk about drastically my work has changed over the past four years? Praise the Lord!)

Then Eddie & Priyanka took it one step further- I did their proposal, engagements, wedding, and anniversary. And then when their daughter Leah was born this past December, I photographed her too!

With the realization of how much JOY it brought me, the idea of the Abby Grace Legacy Couple was born!

See, I often spend a year or more getting to know these fabulous couples- we’ll do wine together, have an amazing time at their engagement session, and then I have an all-access pass to the biggest day of their lives thus far. And then… I sometimes never see them again, especially if they’re not from the DC area. It’s such a bummer! My couples are incredible human beings; people that I’d be friends with in life anyways, and having been there for such an exciting and important time in their lives, I feel especially connected.

What’s also fun is that the blog readers who’ve been following along for years? They feel connected, too! They’ve seen every blog post, viewed every wedding, they remember things like “Maria- she was the bride who wore her mother’s wedding dress, right?”

So having my brides and grooms return on their one, two, three year anniversaries is SUCH a gift! I love hearing how their love stories have grown, what’s surprised them most about marriage; I love hearing about their biggest highs and the battles they’ve overcome.

One of the foundational beliefs that I’ve built my business and work on is that your marriage is worth fighting for. Knowing that my couples are fighting for theirs, whether that’s in something simple like a date night, or something major like walking through tragedy, it gives hope. Being able to reflect on and celebrate your victories as a couple can help make walking through the hard times a bit more manageable. Having moments captured on film that show those blissful moments when you couldn’t remember ever loving each other more than you do right now? Those are worth far more than their weight in gold when the going gets tough.

To all my Abby Grace couples who’ve trusted me over the years with some of the biggest moments of your lives, I can’t express what an honor it is to be asked to photograph you after the wedding day’s come and gone! I can’t wait to photograph more of these this year!