Buffalo Botanical Gardens Engagement

Filed in engagements, michele shot by Ayres Photography on December 11, 2020 at

Kayla and Drew met in high school. They knew each other for years, sat together at lunch and worked on endless projects together, all as “just friends”. They began secretly dating after spending long hours and late nights working on their senior class video together and after keeping their relationship behind closed doors for several months, they made their status officially public by going to their senior prom together. How adorable is that?! If the story of their relationship isn’t meant to be an early 90s rom-com then I don’t know what is.

Kayla is an incredible florist and owner of Wildroot Floral, so finding some greenery during this wintery shoot was a must! Our amazing associate, Michele, followed these two love birds around the Buffalo Botanical Gardens for a few hours and let them work their high school sweetheart magic in front of the camera, before heading over to the Albright Knox to get a few shots in some formal attire.

We can’t wait to share their wedding day with you too!! But in the meantime, please enjoy soaking in the sweetness of this engagement shoot!

Kayla: “Since we met in high school there was no real ‘first date!’ We’ve been together for so long at this point that neither of us can even really remember the first official time we spent alone together. Prom may have been our true first date, which seems ridiculous because we had spent so, so, so many hours together working on projects at school before then. It’s all a bit of a high school romance blur! At one point we also went to a Shea’s performance of West Side Story fairly early on in our relationship. We had good seats and I had made a joke that I felt so fancy. That night Drew made me laugh so hard trying to act ‘fancy’ and adopting a British accent. I remember now it so distinctly, and knew I’d found someone just as strange as me – it was fantastic.“

Kayla: “Drew and I were living in Austin, TX on the weekend that Drew proposed. I had flown home to Buffalo to go to my sister’s high school graduation and a Buffalo Boss Babes event. It was too expensive for us to both fly home so I left Drew and our puppy, Ember, in Austin. My mom suggested that we go to Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua on Saturday which I was happy to do. Drew and I have visited the gardens there multiple times. It’s one of our very, very favorite places. When we arrived, my sister had me pose in front of one of the greenhouses so she could take a picture. Funny enough – I actually said ‘Oh – take my picture here and send it to Drew! His mom has this photo framed at her house!’ As I was smiling for the photo, I heard steps behind me. I turned around to move out of the way and saw Drew and was SO EXCITED. I had absolutely no clue that a proposal was coming. It didn’t cross my mind whatsoever. I thought he had just flown home for the weekend for a surprise because that is so like Drew and he knows I hate not being with him. When he got to me and gave me a hug I still had no clue and was ready to just go walking through the gardens. Then he got down on one knee and I was totally blown away. My parents and sisters were there to photograph/video/scream in the background which was crazy and fun. The video of the moment is just hilarious because I’m truly speechless and so confused. The entire proposal was so special because of the place, the surprise, and the fact that I got to talk with my family immediately after. He also brought gorgeous flowers (a necessity in my opinion, of course) and the perfect ring from Alexis Russell in Buffalo.“