Once upon a time in small town in the midwest, there lived a beautiful girl. Her name was Sara Nicole, but no one ever called her that.  She'd always been just 'Niky' and the only thing that could outshine her giant smile and welcoming way was her big blue eyes when they would find a reason to sparkle.  Enter Arlyn...but I'm getting ahead of myself.   Niky loved to sing, so she'd signed up to play at the local county fair, but she still needed a band for the gig.  Enter Arlyn.  Niky's father knew of Arlyn and the band that he played with, so he introduced them one Sunday, and they all agreed to play the fair in a few months. So Niky practiced with Arlyn and the band but she didn't think much of it.  Of course she thought Arlyn was handsome, and friends would tease her about him, but he was the quiet type so she just did her singing thing and never made any assumptions that anything more was going on in the head of the cute guy who - in her words, "stood in the back and played guitar like a boss."

They played the fair, and it went so well, that Niky asked Arlyn if he'd play with her at an open mic night at a winery.  He of course agreed because who in their right mind wouldn't take the chance to see this girl again.  He was from another town, so he'd drive to her house on Sundays and they'd spend time practicing and somehow Sundays were becoming his favorite day of the week. They played the gig at the winery, and when it was all over that evening, in the way Niky would because she is bubbly and energetic and so full of life, she just quipped that it was sad that it was all over.  Arlyn jumped in and told her they'd just have to find other places to play.  She told me that put a near permanent smile on her face as they drove to meet friends for dinner.  Before the evening ended, the strong, silent-type guitar player had asked out the the big-hearted girl with the blue eyes who'd captured his heart. Niky is seriously the sweetest thing.  When Arlyn asked her out, she was so surprised that she asked him, "Are you sure?" She told me she was so nervous on their first date that her normal chatting self disappeared and she was sure Arlyn would change his mind about her.  No shock, he didn't and she said when he asked her out a second time, the nerves had disappeared, and it wasn't long before they'd both fallen head over heels. Arlyn and Niky have a laid back, fun kind of love.

Turns out this strong, silent type also keeps Niky laughing.

I love these shots because Niky said that a lot of the in-between real talks, the kind that you begin to truly know someone, happened as they'd be driving.

Arlyn and Niky, thank you so much for trusting me to capture this chapter of your love story!  Can't wait for your big day!

 

HAIR + MAKEUP (...and style perfecting and constant hair fluffing and shirt pulling and laugh inducing): Tonya Gorby