If you’re wondering how to look fierce for your engagement photos, use Trystan Alfred and Shaquana Wilson’s portraits as a guide. The pair dressed to the nines for their photo shoot at some of DC’s historic sites, and it paid off in their stunning, elegant images by Iris Mannings Photography.
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Shaquana and Trystan first crossed paths when they were enrolled in the same juvenile justice class at Virginia State University. As a class requirement, all the students had to form groups for a semester-long project, and Trystan quickly caught Shaquana’s attention when he became the only male member of her group. On a mission to get to know him better, Shaquana texted Trystan. Small talk led to an invite over to his dorm room to watch a movie, which Shaquana quickly turned down, waiting for a better offer. When Trystan asked a second time, however, Shaquana decided to have him over to her apartment. “That night was full of so much laughter and good conversations,” she says. “I knew then that I had found my match.”
They’d dated for four years before a proposal set them on the road to marriage. Each year they’d dated, Trystan had given Shaquana a dozen red roses on their anniversary, so for their engagement portraits, Shaquana carried a bouquet of five dozen roses, to symbolize the five years they’d be together by the time they tied the knot.
For their engagement photo shoot with Iris Mannings, the pair visited the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court, taking advantage of some of DC’s most beautiful architecture. To add some personality to their stately background, they included balloons, a cute sign, and a shirt all soon-to-be wed ladies need in their closet.
Related: Engagement Photos at the Gym: Cuter Than You’d Think
Caroline Cunningham joined Washingtonian in 2014 after moving to the DC area from Cincinnati, where she interned and freelanced for Cincinnati Magazine and worked in content marketing. She currently resides in College Park.
