Courtney + Levi / Spring Meadows Wedding 9.12.2020

When I sent out Levi and Courtney’s questionnaire, one of the first questions Levi was to answer was “What was the first thing you noticed about Courtney? Why do you think it was the first thing you noticed?” and Levi said “Her smile. Every time I went up to talk to her I was able to get her to smile even if she was having a bad day.”

I drove down to their place in West Durham last fall for their engagement photos and saw firsthand exactly what Levi meant when he said that. Within minutes of photographing Levi and Courtney, there were countless jokes cracked. It became apparent that Levi was incredibly in tune with Courtney and knew exactly how to keep her laughing and comfortable. Whether they were balancing on a downed tree or dancing in the woods behind their home, they were in sync, always.

“[When we first met,] of course I was drawn to Levi’s appearance, but what really made me gravitate to him was his huge heart and knowledge in just about anything. He is the most down to earth, level headed, polite, hard working human I have ever met. I love everything about him from his patience, perseverance, and sense of humor to his work ethic, discipline and selflessness.”

“I pretty much knew from the moment we rekindled what we had 10 years prior, we were in it for the long haul. I felt a calm like no other when I was with him. Never uneasy. Loving him and being loved by him came so naturally. There was no particular moment that I knew (until he proposed!) but boy was I reminded every day through his words and actions. I always knew he was it.”

“The song “This is It” by Scotty McCreery (our first dance song) reminds me of Levi just because I hoped and wished and waited for him to ask me to be his wife. It was an unreal moment when he actually did. So, when I hear that song, our engagement plays over again in my head. Our engagement night could not have been more naturally perfect, including but not limited to: English muffin pizzas (which may have burnt just a little), and cribbage, at his camp in Solon, just us 2 and our dog Mica. The best night ever!!!!”

One of my ever-present curiosities with engaged couples is how long the proposal had been planned for, and how they (whoever proposed) knew they wanted to ask their partner for forever. This was my favorite part of Levi’s explanation: “The way that she cares for the animals as if they are people. Walking into the bedroom to her and Mica snuggled up and neither one of them waking up. Only way was to use her birthday and Christmas coming up to make up a reason for going to camp.”

At the end of his questionnaire, I asked Levi to picture their life together 5 years from now, and tell me what he saw. Here is what he said:

“Having a little one running around. Relaxing at home around a fire.” Perfection.