This Memphis urban engagement session is sure to blow your socks off.
The old saying we’ve all heard 1,000 times (customized to fit us individually) for Karlie and Mark is, “The couple that runs together, stays together.” That’s right, Karlie and Mark’s story starts off as running partners, and in my opinion it kind of ends that way too. Let me explain, but first, a back story. John and I met both Karlie and Mark at Karlie’s sister, Katie’s wedding last October. We absolutely LOVE Katie and Brent (and the whole Hughes’ family.) We couldn’t help but be a bit intrigued to see that Katie’s younger sister, Karlie, seemed very serious with a guy named Mark. How serious? SO SERIOUS they requested that he be in the family formal portraits! I jokingly told him “there was no turning back now” and he smiled and made a comment similar to “I wouldn’t ever want to.” Fast forward only a few weeks after Katie’s wedding, we saw that Mark popped the question. We are SO glad he did because now we get to shoot another Hughes’ wedding THIS August at Spring Creek Ranch!
When I asked Karlie how she and Mark met initially, here’s what she said:
“Mark and I both were on the student government my sophomore year and his junior year. In October, we were assigned to work the same shift at an event and spent the evening working together and getting to know each other. At the same time, I was training for a half marathon and was told he ran often and so I asked if he would run with me at night so I was safe. Over the next couple of weeks, we ran together and got to know each other more! In that past August, I had decided that I wanted to take a year to focus on myself so dating was not an option. So as feelings developed between Mark and I this became an issue. However, he didn’t want to take away from that so he told me he would wait until the end of the year! We spent that time getting to know each other better as people and became best friends. On August 22nd, he “officially” asked me to be his girlfriend and then proposed October 28th!”
I love that Karlie and Mark’s story started off as just running partners. They’ve ran many miles together, and they are about to run many more miles together on the best journey there is. Marriage.
When I asked Karlie what her favorite thing about Mark is, she said this:
“My favorite thing about Mark is how ridiculously smart he is. He definitely works incredibly hard but usually it just comes naturally to him!! Also, how he is so obsessed with Jesus and he seeks to glorify Him every day!!”
Mark had a similar response to Karlie’s:
“How she loves the Lord and will always go on an adventure with me. She helps me to never settle for being boring. She always encourages and pushes me to be the best man I can be.”
When I think of sweet Karlie and Mark, I couldn’t help but think of that quote “Run as fast as you can towards God, and if you find someone who keeps up, introduce yourself.” They are passionate about not only their relationship with each other, but also their relationship with the Lord.
We are so very excited for August 4th. You guys enjoy!
