Jen & Matt were willing to wake up at the break of dawn for an early morning beach session at Walnut Beach in Milford, CT – and it was so worth it! We dodged the rain, beat any MDW crowds, and got to use this pretty beach as the backdrop for their engagement photos. Can’t wait til their wedding next year!!
 

 
Jen & Matt have been dating since they were 15 (almost 9 years!) but they’ve actually knew each other since elementary & middle school. Matt says that his first memory of Jen was “the girl in gym class doing splits and practicing dances from her ballet classes.” I love the way they describe their love story in their own words:
 

His Version

“It all started because one of her friends had a crush on one of my friends. Her friend set us up in an attempt to get closer to my best friend at the time. Ironically, those two never amounted to anything and Jen and I are the ones getting married. I didn’t know her growing up, but I do remember the first time I saw her. She was in my 8th-grade gym class, she was always the girl doing splits before class started when we had to sit on the ground in rows for attendance. Jen and I had our first date during our sophomore year of high school and at the end of the date, I asked her to be my girlfriend. I am still pretty sure to this day she said “um…sure” just because she was too scared to say no. While the high school relationship was a turbulent one, it allowed us to better understand what it meant to love someone unconditionally. We learned the importance of boundaries and understanding, how to actively listen instead of just say yes and move on. Once we got back together before we started college, I knew there was no one else that could make me as good of a person and truly happy as Jen has in these past 8 years. I am so excited to continue our journey together and take on life as a married couple.”
  

Her Version

“I was 15, skinny as a stick, and had not one OUNCE of interest in this kid! We were in different circles and I was so not cool enough for him! But eventually, after canceling some “dates”, we went on our first date at Hidden Valley Mini Golf. I remember that morning, Matthew texted that he was bringing 3 other friends so I was scrambling to find anyone who could go with me. Well, shocker!!, no one could come! So, I went to mini golf and at the end of 18 holes and a cup of ice cream, THE Matt Daigle asked me to be his girlfriend. My response “uhhh sure?”. I didn’t know what to do, he was my first boyfriend!! We dated for 12 months, then broke up for 3 months, then dated for 2 months, then broke up. And to say we were both a wreck is an UNDERSTATEMENT. Over the next 12 months we were always in each other’s lives… even when we didn’t want the other there. Whether it was double dates, or indirect tweets, somehow our paths kept crossing. By spring of 2015 we found our way back to each other. We got back together right before he left for “R-Day” at West Point. That meant 8 weeks of no communication besides a pen and piece of paper.”

“August 2015… 18-year-old me is in the car with his parents trying to pretend like we aren’t dating and “just really good friends”. We waited to “officially” start dating on our original anniversary, and the rest is history! We made it through 4 long years in college, going between Seton Hall and West Point when we had the chance, we made it through a 9-month move to Missouri while I was in grad school, and we made it through another 10 months of long-distance between Fort Drum and Connecticut. In December 2020, I packed up all my stuff, said tearful goodbyes and moved to Fort Drum with him!”

“We have a unique story, it’s way more complicated than I can even begin to explain, but it is our story and I love each day since it began. I feel like I have been planning this since I was 15 with brown hair and Matthew had braces, but I am so thrilled that I can genuinely get to say that I am currently living my teenage dream!”
 

Photos by Luxury NY & CT Photographer Lin Pernille.

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