Falling in love with this southern e-sesh from Robert and Kathleen Photographers was an easy fete for me. For starters, these two lovebirds are A-dorable. Second, how could you not be enamored with the richness and romance of NOLA? It reels me in every time and I don’t fight it one bit. Get lost in the sweet, sweet gallery here.
From Robert and Kathleen Photographers… Maureen and James met when they were both thousands of miles away from home, spending a year studying abroad in Ireland. They each came from Irish families and loved being immersed in the Irish Culture as students of Trinity College in Dublin.
They didn’t tell me for sure, but I would say it’s easy easy guess that James was drawn to Maureen at first by her smile. It’s bright and unrestrained, the kind of smile that makes her eyes sparkle and implores you to smile in return. And when Maureen got to know James, she was no doubt captivated by his crystal-blue eyes and Southern-gentleman charm.
Maureen and James got to know each other over the course of that year in Ireland. When their friendship turned to something more, they were pleasantly surprised. They had been a bit tentative at first, not knowing how in the world they would manage a long-distance relationship when they would return to the US, to home states over 1,500 miles apart. But as Irish novelist James Stephens says, “What the heart knows today, the head will understand tomorrow.” Their hearts knew they wanted to be together, their heads would just have to figure out the logistics. Because when you really love someone, obstacles like distance don’t seem so challenging.
They spent the next few years in school – James at graduate school while Maureen completed her undergrad and then Maureen going to grad school in Boston while James started law school in his home state of Louisiana. This year, after Maureen completed grad school, she moved down to Louisiana to join James. They are finally living in the same city (something they haven’t done since the very first year they met), enjoying all of the same things that they did way back then; hearing about each others day over a drink in their favorite local pub, finding a new place to explore over the weekend.
And there’s little doubt that the same things that drew them to each other so many years ago, her bright smile and his undeniable charm, are the very same things that make every day together that much sweeter, especially now that they are finally back in the same place once again. This summer, they’ll stand in front of their family and friends and pledge what their hearts knew back on the campus of Trinity: that they are meant to be together and that no matter what the obstacle, their love will always find a way.
Photography: Robert & Kathleen Photographers | Dress: Tibi New York | Venue: New Orleans, LA