Kristine and Kelvin, pre-proposal. All photographs by Ashley Grace of Little Bird Media

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: There’s nothing sweeter than a proposal caught on camera. And here’s another super-cute one to brighten your day.

Kristine, who lives in Fredericksburg, had mentioned to her photographer friend Ashley Grace of Little Bird Media that she’d like some photos taken.

“My mom had been asking for some updated photos to put up around the house, since the last time I had my picture taken was my senior year of high school,” says Kristine. “In September, Ashley brought up the idea again.”

After a bit of back and forth, they were able to settle on a Saturday shoot in downtown Fredericksburg. As Ashley snapped away, Kristine’s boyfriend of nearly three years, Kelvin, stopped by to watch.

“Every time Ashley would fiddle with her camera and change settings, Kelvin would come over to talk, kiss, hug, or just tease me like he always does, and then Ashley would start taking pictures of it,” says Kristine.

Arlington couple Jenn and Ryan, who have been together for two years, love going to Gravelly Point in Arlington to watch planes take off and land, and hiking on Theodore Roosevelt Island (on the Potomac, between Arlington and DC), which is where Ryan proposed. So when it came time for their engagement photos, shot by Sarah Culver Photography, the couple decided those two locations would provide the perfect backdrops.

“I’ve seen quite a number of engagement shoots that seem to have no backstory to them,” says Jenn. “I’m a writer, and I care about stories, so while I initially decided we’d take pictures ‘somewhere pretty,’ it kept bothering me that there was nothing personal about the places. But then I remembered Theodore Roosevelt Island, where we got engaged and still hike, and that turned into a memory of us watching the planes take off and land at Gravelly Point. These places had some sort of story behind then, a connection, and I thought it would make the pictures more meaningful—which it did.”

Jenn and Ryan will marry in October 2012 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the bride’s hometown. Check out more photos from their engagement session after the jump.

Last week, we provided tips on how to stage the perfect proposal. Today, we’re showing you a live example. Our online account executive, Matt Hendrickson, proposed to his girlfriend of six years (and major Nats fan), Jennie Kushlis, last weekend in rare, but incredible style—on the field at Nationals Park, with DC’s favorite lovable loser, Teddy, taking a major role in the action. Luckily, he videotaped the whole thing.

Just watch.

Proposal: Matt and Jennie (part 2--full version) from Emma Patti on Vimeo.

Did you have an amazing proposal? Email us at realweddings@washingtonian.com and tell us about it!

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Emily and Adam | Married | Moving Pictures from Geoff Chesman Visuals on Vimeo.

Ever since we spotted this on Engaging Affairs’s Bridal Bubbly blog, we’ve been pretty much obsessed with the work of DC wedding photographer Geoff Chesman, who has been experimenting with “moving pictures”­—using a single camera (a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, if you’re curious) to take both still pictures and few-seconds-long video clips.

The result is phenomenal. Watch the video above, and see how some of the images almost spring to life. We just had to talk to the photographer himself.

“For all of my career I’ve been able to capture amazing moments, and now I’m able to capture the moments in between moments,” says Chesman of the “moving pictures.”

He admits that creating this melding of photo and video isn’t easy—it requires a visual artist who is dedicated to capturing three- to ten-second video clips throughout the wedding day, and is available as an add-on to his photography package. Chesman is clear that this isn’t meant to replace full-length wedding videos, but it certainly creates a unique experience, especially when it comes to reliving the most poignant parts of the day.

“When a bride and groom see each other for the first time, with a still photo you can get a sense of what was going on, you can feel the anticipation, but having those extra few seconds of movement adds even more emotion,” says Chesman.

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"I loved the way I looked that day—very '60s and very happy," says our lifestyle editor, Leslie Milk of her wedding more than 43 years ago. Photograph courtesy of the couple

There are a few things a girl never forgets. A first love or first kiss come to mind. Your first wedding, too, should be a high point, though you never can tell how these things will pan out. I’ll certainly never forget my wedding day, but how could I? I’ve spent years in therapy talking about it, playing it out, dragging it over the proverbial coals.

More than 40 years later, I’m still married to the guy who stood under the chuppah with me, but I see my wedding day differently. The truth is that hindsight isn’t exactly 20/20. It blurs some images, sharpens others, and erases some details altogether.

I’ve done my best over the years to fixate on every affront, error, and egregious action committed by family, friends, and wedding vendors on that fateful day. I can still recite the gory details and explain the ways things should have happened if only someone had been on the job. Never mind who the “someone” was—it just wasn’t supposed to be me!

Speaking of jobs, let’s discuss the rabbi. Obviously, his is an important gig, as these things go. It just so happens that early in his rabbinic career, my rabbi performed my in-laws’ wedding nuptials. Evidently it was a focal point of his career, because he went on endlessly during my ceremony about that day. It was so bad that I was tempted to shout, “Hey, Rabbi Gordis! The bride is here. Remember me?"

Photo by Jennifer Smoose

If John Paul Fawcett had met Juliette Niehuss a few months earlier, he might have asked her to dinner or a movie. But the timing wasn’t right. It was January 2000, and John, a senior at the University of Kansas, and Juliette, a junior at Amherst, had both just arrived in Egypt for a study-abroad program.

“Cultural restrictions make it so you can’t really go out on normal dates,” says Juliette, who grew up in DC. “You could go out and have ice cream, and maybe hold hands—but even that is kind of taboo.”

She and John were allowed to spend time together only in the dorm’s lobby or the study room. But during an orientation trip to Alexandria, Egypt, they stayed up talking one night over Arabic tea.

Two weeks later, they took a cab to the Giza pyramids at 4 am to watch the sun rise, but the grounds were closed. While they tried to find their way in, a pack of stray dogs began to circle them. Juliette was so scared that she couldn’t move.

“I’ll never let anything bad happen to you,” John told her. “I promise.”

Photo by Jennifer Smoose

As executive director of Americans for Fair Trade, Ernest Baynard spent the first few months of 2005 making appearances on CNN and CNBC, speaking out against a Central American trade deal.

At the Department of Commerce, senior adviser Lindsey Dickinson spent her days fighting for the proposed agreement. All’s fair in love and war—and this time, it was both: Baynard and Dickinson had been dating for two years.

The couple, who live in DC, met backstage at the 9:30 Club in November 2002. Ernest was friends with members of the evening’s band, Galactic, and Lindsey had won a radio contest to meet the band.

“I found out he was a Democrat in our first conversation, and it didn’t bother me,” says Lindsey, now senior director for federal-government affairs at Comcast. “It was nice, actually, meeting someone who wasn’t part of the Bush administration but still shared some of my interests.”

They both saw the band again the next night, and Ernest called Lindsey that Monday. They went on a few dates, but the romance started when they parted ways for the holidays. While home with her family in Vermont, Lindsey was impressed to see a quote from Ernest in Time magazine—and touched that he called her on Christmas. From the night they got back to DC, they were a bipartisan couple.