Jonathan + Katie Engagement | Georgetown

Samantha Malizia
May 12, 2021
4 min read

Last Friday's Georgetown engagement session was spent with Katie and Jonathan. The sun rose over us as we danced beside the Potomac River, lost our phones while eating Georgetown Cupcakes, and confused school kids along cobble stone streets. IT. WAS. PERFECT.

Meet Jonathan and Katie! Catherine and I grew up with Jonathan and his family! If it weren't his older sisters teaching us dance, it was our brother Joe hanging out with "Jonny". No one else ever called Jonathan, "Jonny" but if you know anything about our family, it's no surprise that he was given a nickname. To the Malizia family, he will always be "Jonny"! Our mom and brother were so excited to see Jonathan and Katie's pictures! My mom texted us after their session asking to see the album. Honestly, I don't blame her! These two are a wonderful couple!

Jonathan and Katie met in Myrtle Beach, SC. They were both there for work, Jonathan on a business trip, and Katie rehearsing for an upcoming show. They were in the same bar, on the same night, and ended up dancing the night away! (Wait until you see their dancing pictures.) Two months later, they had their first date in downtown Alexandria for a wine and paint night.

Now, let me tell you about Katie! Oh my word, what a lovely person she is! And BEAUTIFUL! Like, she-has-a-twinkle-in-her-eye kind of beautiful. Even more amazing was her ability to make others smile and laugh. Whether it was playfully making fun of herself or making a goofy face at Jonathan, she knew how to make us all smile. This was our first time meeting her and seeing these two together, but it took us no time to notice their strong love and beautiful friendship.

What a handsome guy! And thoughtful too! Katie shared their engagement story with us prior to their session.

"There is a botanical garden in South Carolina called Brookgreen Gardens that I had visited a couple of times during trips, and fell in love with its lush beauty and hidden treasures. I had told Jonathan about it before, but we had yet to make a visit together. My mother recently moved to Myrtle Beach and the plan was for me to go down to help her around the new house with my dad for a long weekend, while Jonathan went up to see his parents in PA and play golf with his dad. My mom told me she made plans for us to do a tour of the gardens that morning, that it was a new informational tour about the history of the area. As we were walking to the start of the tour, I saw my name hanging on a card off one of the old gates and I immediately felt like I could not breath. I made the walk down Live Oak Allee, and Jonathan appeared from behind a tree, and got down on one knee. Little did I know, he had made the trip down with a few friends to surprise me. I was caught by complete surprise. I will remember that day and those feelings I had for the rest of my life. We spent the rest of the long weekend celebrating with a few other surprises by close friends. It was perfect."

On our way to the Georgetown Canal, we found the sun peeking through these trees... we had to stop for a quick dance!

From the hand, to the little rock step, and THE DIP to end it! Katie had us wishing all of our couples were professional dancers!

Don't be fooled though, Jonathan SHOWED UP for this performance too...

CHECK OUT THIS SCOOP!

Then, we were ready for the Georgetown Canal!

It wouldn't be a Georgetown session without Georgetown Cupcakes! Although it wasn't open that early in the morning, Jonathan and Katie bought their cupcakes the night before! They even brought extras for us which we inhaled as soon as we got in the car because they were so good that we couldn't have "just a taste"! So freaking thoughtful!

We had fun getting creative with these cupcake ring shots!

After a quick outfit change, we headed to O and 34th Street for some photos along the cobble stone road!

We loved this vibrant red brick against their blue outfits!

LOVE this black and white!

We had our cobblestone street shots during school drop-off. At one point, during these shots, I joked with a passerby that "he came just in time for pictures!' but he couldn't hear me over his headphones, got confused, back tracked, and I felt incredibly awkward, Thankfully, we laughed it off and continued shooting around the school morning traffic.

Love Jonathan's smile in these ones! Also, I didn't realize how much I loved Katie's popped collar until we took these pictures! SO FRESH!

Jonathan and Katie, thank you for an amazing session! Thank you for bringing us to Georgetown, and for waking up so early for a sunrise session! Thank you for the delicious cupcakes, and for an overall amazing session! Your love is so special, and it's easy to see that you bring out the best in one another. Through an early morning, stressful parking, and a lost cell phone, you remained joyful and continued to make each other smile. We loved catching up with you and cannot wait to celebrate with you and your loved ones In September!