This adorable Red Lodge, Montana, engagement session happened on the families' homesteads – complete with love, friendship, and a funny farm animal or two. Photography by Montana Bride Vendor Collective member Font & Figure.
"Andy is a hay farmer outside of Red Lodge, and I am a pediatric occupational therapist in Billings. Our favorite things to do together are biking, skiing, and snowmobiling around where we live, and of course spending time with our friends and family. We are lucky in that we love our work, have wonderful people in our lives, and live in such a beautiful place! And of course that we have each other to enjoy it all with. We met for the first time at a mutual friend's thanksgiving dinner in Red Lodge. I talked to Andy for quite a bit after dinner, and thought he was so cute and sweet, but I wasn't dating at the time ... so he got turned down when he asked for my number! (I am still so sorry!) But things work out as they will, and we ran into each other on New Year's Eve a couple of months later in downtown Red Lodge. I spotted Andy through the crowd and waved him over. We ended up talking most of the night and he invited me to climb up onto a roof to watch the bars close and people walk home. (I have to insert some props here to Andy's friend Tom here, who acted as a great wingman and helped keep us talking! Thanks, Tom!) I knew then we had similar spirits, and our first date involved a spur-of-the-moment tag-a-long hay delivery and a trip to the trampoline park. And no love story in 2021 is complete without mention of COVID-19, but during shutdown is when we were able to really get to know each other and made the most of a strange time. Biking, cooking, driving back roads, picking up to-go margaritas, and a spontaneous moving of a ping-pong table in to the dining room for tournaments are some of our favorite memories from that time, and we have made so many more since! We each get to marry our best friend, and for that we are so fortunate and grateful."
What is your proposal story?
"We were driving back from Billings after running some errands in town. We were starved, so I started making dinner right away when we got back home. Andy came in to the kitchen and asked, or I thought he asked, to help bring the rest of the groceries in from the truck. I was slightly irritated because I had to turn off dinner but I walked out to the pick-up, grabbed the rest of our things, and proceeded with my work. He came in again, and said that wasn't what he meant, and that he wanted help bringing in our mountain bikes so we could work on them inside. So I sighed, turned off dinner again, and marched out to the garage. I opened the door and in our bike stand was a ... different bike? It took me a stunned second to realize it was the mountain bike I had tried out a few weeks prior and fallen in love with, and then I turned around to Andy on one knee, who I was also in love with. I was so shocked and happy and overwhelmed, and said 'yes!' The ring came later, but the mountain bike proposal was absolutely perfect. It goes to show he really does know me best."
What are your wedding plans?
We are getting married where Andy grew up, at his parent's farm outside of Red Lodge, Montana. We are excited to dance under the stars with our family and friends in June!
What do you love most about one another?
That we are truly are best friends. We love to spend our time together, have adventures together, and just enjoy life in the same way! –Lauren, the bride-to-be
[A note from Lauren: These photos were taken first at Andy's farm and then at his parents'. We have glimpses of our little funny farm throughout our photos: two pups, Hank and Flynt, two cats, Taylor Swift and Clyde, two horses, Toppy and Dakota, and four goats, Ricky, Billy, Jerry, and Soso.]
