Glastonbury Engagement Celebration

September 18, 2023 BrianAmbrosePhoto

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CT, engaged, engagement session, engagement shoot, event, event photography

Alyssa said the following about how they fell in love.

Justin and I matched on Hinge during the 2020 Superbowl Halftime show. We had our first date a few days later on February 6th at a bar called Lorelai. After our date, he walked me home but it was rainy and cold so I drove him to his house. We had four more dates before the pandemic hit. I actually picked him up at the Pittsburgh airport as he got the last flight out of Montana after a ski trip. Justin and I have been inseparable since that first date. Each day of those first few months we walked around our neighborhoods in Pittsburgh. Each Friday night I would cook Shabbat dinner for us at Justin’s apartment and each Saturday we explored a new hiking trail. On those drives to and from our hikes, we would play our favorite music for each other. That is how we fell in love. Walking, talking, and listening to music. There is a song called Better Together by Jack Johnson which became the anthem for our relationship. Individually, we are great people but are so much better together.

The balloons that flew away at our engagement party had Better Together written on them.

Justin and I knew we were meant to be just a few months into our relationship. One Saturday walk down a tree-lined street called Beachwood Blvd in Pittsburgh on the way home from waiting in a socially distanced line for paninis. On that walk, we spoke about each thing that really mattered to us. From our families and how we were raised, how our Judaism infused our childhoods, how we wanted to be Jewish adults, and how we wanted to raise future children. Every single thing we wanted matched up and that was it.

When Justin graduated from his Graduate program at CMU, we moved to New York City together. We then embarked on a new phase of our relationship. We saw Broadway shows, went to late-night jazz, tried fabulous New York restaurants, and looked for the best pizza. Which we found at Joe’s in Brooklyn. We were engaged on September 17th, 2022 under a gazebo in Central Park. After we were engaged, we knew New York wouldn’t be our forever home so in May 2023 we moved to Philly. Justin grew up in Philly and in just a few short months it already feels like home to me too!

We are lucky enough to have 5 grandparents here to celebrate our engagement with us. Each of our parents and grandparents was instrumental in creating what Justin and I both hold near but especially the desire to raise a Jewish family with Jewish values. While we might still be planning our wedding, we did not want to wait to celebrate with the people we love most and formed who each of us is!

As you can see in the photos these two joke with each other and smile and laugh often. We took the last of their engagement photos as their friends and family started to show up for the Celebration! The food and fun were in full swing in no time! Justin & Alyssa had the most wonderful people come to celebrate this next chapter in their love story! What a wonderful love and Glastonbury Engagement Celebration!