While attending different high schools in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Nicole and Micah would see each other around, but never really spoke. A few years later, in 2017, Micah came across Nicole’s Instagram profile and decided to message her with, “What’s up, Ms. Clark? How have you been?”
He was surprised to receive a message back and the two continued the conversation, catching up on all the things that happened over the past nine years. In August 2017, they officially became a couple and traveled back and forth from Arkansas to Oklahoma every two weeks to see each other. After a long-distance relationship for a year, Micah moved to Texas and Nicole joined him a year later after graduating. On December 7th, 2019, the lovely couple got engaged and now prepare to walk down the aisle. Check out their gorgeous engagement session captured by Nancy Cole Photography.
Bride: Nicole Clark, 28, Front end collections agent
Groom: Micah Washington, 30, Academic Advisor
Place of residence: Irving, Texas
Engagement Shoot Location: Fort Worth Botanical Gardens
Wedding date: August 21, 2021
For the Groom: Walk us through the behind the scenes of creating this special day
Nicole moved down to Texas in June of 2019 where our plan was to stay with my mother and father, save our money, and get an apartment within two months. It sounded like a solid plan, but as plans do, they changed a bit. Not only that, I had credit issues when we could finally afford an apartment, so that delayed our move even longer.
Around October of 2019, we were accepted for the apartment we wanted. It may not seem like a big deal to some, but this situation motivated me to handle my business and take life more seriously. She motivated me to do better without judgment. I spoke to my father about marrying her during one of our man to man talks and he said that I would, “be a fool not to, but in all seriousness, if you feel like you’re ready, then go for it.”
I knew her family would be coming to town in December so, I planned around the visit and told her that my parents wanted to take us out to dinner when her family came into town to make it seem like a normal gathering. The day of, I called her father and asked for her hand in marriage. He said yes, along with a speech that can only be summed up as,” I like you, but don’t make me have to come down there and get you.”
Later that night we all met at Macaroni Grill to eat. Afterwards, I had my mom take what Nicole thought were pictures, but really, it was a video. My mom played it smooth and told us to smile, then told us that she wanted to take one more. At that moment, I grabbed both of Nicole’s hands as she looked at me with a confused look on her face. I looked her in the eyes and told her that I loved her so much and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I then got down on one knee. As she starts to realize what’s going on, but is still in disbelief, I asked her to marry me. She said yes with tears rolling down her cheeks.
What makes your love special?
What makes our love special is that we lead with love no matter what. We complement each other’s peace. We have the type of love that makes you continually think about the future with that person, the goals that you and your partner will accomplish with one another, the children that we will have and hoping that they will grow to be as good or better than their parents. Most of all, we are willing to give up our ego and agree to submit to each other every day.
What was the theme of your shoot?
We actually did not have a theme for our shoot. COVID-19 really brought everything to a pause and it felt as if we had to put our wedding off until things cleared up. We decided to create some type of normalcy within all the chaos, and got in contact with Mrs. Nancy Cole through Instagram and set up a shoot to keep the momentum of our future wedding going. We chose the Botanical Gardens and decided to wear neutral colors because you can’t really go wrong with neutral shades.
Were there any memorable moments during the shoot?
The most memorable moments during the shoot included the fact that we practiced so many poses at home and we forgot all about them once we began shooting. I also remember how natural everything was for us. We were genuinely happy with each other and it showed through all of the photos. They wouldn’t look as good if it were not for Nancy’s skills with the camera. She made us feel comfortable and that made us trust her direction.
What are you most looking forward to about your wedding?
I really look forward to our families being able to see us get married. At this point, it’s not about the big extravagant wedding. The state of the country and the uncertainty of the future really puts things into perspective. So yes, the dresses, the flowers, and the venue will be nice, but ultimately, we’re just ready to be married so we can start our lives together.
Have you started planning your wedding?
We started to plan for a wedding to be held in our home town, Fort Smith, Arkansas. We wanted to have many family and friends in attendance for our big celebration. Due to COVID-19, we changed all of our plans to have the wedding in Texas with a small amount of family and friends. We may change the wedding to just having us and our parents if the risk of COVID-19 is high at that time. For the family members and friends that are unable to make the wedding, we plan to set up a Zoom meeting so they will at least get to see the wedding.
Congratulations to the happy couple! We wish you a fruitful marriage and many years of wedded bliss!
