Their Session: Cross Estate Gardens, Bernardsville, NJ

What an absolutely perfect evening for Samantha and Anthony’s spring Cross Estate Gardens maternity session! These two parents-to-be had the greatest energy and connection in front of the camera! With their camera experience from engagement to wedding day, they were pros when it came to this sesh, just with the cutest baby bump this time around!

Their dog was the most adorable addition being a total model in front of the camera! We had Samantha’s brother there to help us out with pup duty, so we could roam around and catch all the amazing spots at these gardens!

I loved that they added variety into their shoot with a flowy white dress to start and then fun denim outfits at the end! Such a great way to give yourself so many options when it comes to printing and sharing your photos!

Their Love Story

Samantha and Anthony met online; however, they had actually met once before in high school at a wrestling tournament in Atlantic City! They chatted and went their separate ways at the time, but fast forward to 2016 – they matched on Tinder! Samantha saw they had over 500 mutual friends and figured he must be a good guy to get to know! 🙂 They went on their first date at a local bar, and as they say, the rest is history!

Their proposal was such a sweet moment!! Samantha shared: “Anthony mentioned to me once, “I think 3.5 years of dating is a good time to get engaged.” I never thought anything of it, but that’s exactly when he proposed.

He is such a romantic. For background, he is a general contractor. He flips houses and builds new ones. He was flipping a house and he ended up keeping the house for us. My birthday is April 11 and used that to get me out of the house, he had a “birthday surprise” for me.

He blindfolded me and drove me in circles until we got to our house. On April 10, 2020 while the house was still in the remodeling phase (also during covid) he decorated the house with rose petals, candles on ladders, a heater, a table with a meal, etc. He had a hidden camera set up to catch everything on camera (my only request was to have it filmed/photographed). When we walked in I said, “Wow if this is what you do for my birthday, I can only imagine what you are going to do when you propose!” I was so clueless lol. We got up to dance and he got on one knee. It was magical.” How incredible is that?! A memorable moment in such a special place!!

Samantha said she can’t wait to see Anthony as a dad since he’s so great with kids! She said, “I’m excited for this next chapter for us to be parents together and see how our love grows and changes. I’m excited to see what the baby looks like, their personality and so crazy, but how our dog interacts with the baby. I just can’t wait for this next part of our lives together, building a family is going to be so fun with Anthony.”

Samantha & Anthony,

Ahhh, it was such a joy getting to photograph this exciting time in your lives before your little one arrives! I loved getting to explore around these gardens with you two and the pup, of course! Seeing your love and connection just made it so clear how wonderful you’ll both be as parents! Wishing you a lifetime of love and happiness with your growing family!