Kristina & Thomas | Washington DC Wedding - elizabethhillphotography.com

Sage & Purple Old Historic Wedding near Washington DC | Jordan Springs VA

I am going to tell you a really good story….actually, I am going to let Kristina & Thomas tell you a really good story, but first I want to say how this day even came about. If you’ve been following along for very long, you know that my husband Scott and my son Connor are pretty much my favorite people. I absolutely LOVE being a wife and a mom, but another great season of my life was my time at Virginia Tech in college. It’s where I found my faith, some of my truest friends, and decided to trust Jesus with my entire journey.

As part of that time there – I met Emily, the bride’s sister in the campus ministry program CRU. We were friends throughout our time there and then life happened. We got our careers, moved in different parts of the country, but the world has a funny way of letting things happen and paths cross again! One of our mutual friends, Kelsey, suggested me as a photographer as it came time for Kristina & Thomas to start planning their wedding!

BOOM. Skype call. Questions. Another Skype Call. And the planning began from Montana to Virginia for this big day. I cannot tell you what a perfect day it was with this family. The Bell’s & the Hagen’s are some of the SWEETEST people I’ve ever met and it really reminds me that I truly have the BEST COUPLES. Truly – I’m in awe of God’s goodness when our paths cross.

If you are still with me – I have to share with you a small part of Kristina & Thomas’s story (as told by them both!)

Once upon a time, Thomas and Kristina signed up for Tinder. This is an online dating app. They were not excited about this app, but it was a fun way to meet people and see what was out in the world.

One day, the two “matched,” and Thomas messaged Kristina: “Hello.”

There was obviously chemistry from the start.

Kristina took her time responding, but Thomas persisted.

As conversation evolved between the two, Thomas began to write paragraph-long messages, and Kristina…replied once a day.

Somewhere along the lines, Thomas asked Kristina out.

There was an agreed-upon location, and the two met up awkwardly.

Here’s how it went:

Thomas: “Hi, I’m Thomas. It’s nice to meet you.”

Kristina: “Hi, I’m Kristina. It’s nice to meet you too.”

Thomas: “It’s nice to meet you too.”

Nevertheless, they persisted. During the first date, Kristina showed Thomas a YouTube video about deep-fried turkeys, and Thomas showed her Liberty’s football facilities. It was a match made in heaven. Kristina also told Thomas that she might be moving to Montana. This was casual, and Thomas thought to himself, “Montana? That’s definitely not happening.” It happened. During the next month and a half, Thomas and Kristina spent time getting to know each other. They went on hiking trips, double-dated, fished, and ate a lot of food. Thomas met Kristina’s family, and that was the last he saw of her in Virginia. But, despite the move to Montana and the realization that there was now 2,500 miles between them, they both felt a strong connection and desire to continue pursuing one another. (Let it be known that this was CRAZY for both of them– neither one of them completely understood why they still were okay with this.)

After Kristina had been gone for a month, Thomas, with the help of his friend, Elijah (who is a pilot!), came for a visit. While this was wonderful, they were both seeing each other for a short period of time, and it wasn’t without its stresses. Thomas left, and he came back about a month and a half later, which was still stressful, but there was still something about each other that told them to continue their relationship. Between the second and third trip, Thomas was working hard at applying to jobs within his field. He found several positions he was interested in around the country, and he applied to all. But, he had one interview. This spurred his third trip to, yes, Montana. And, lo and behold, he was given the job…and he accepted. The game had changed. Now, the only caveat was that this particular job was with Montana State University…three hours from Kristina, and they were entering into one of the most intense Montana winters to date.

NEVERTHELESS, they persisted. There were weekend drives back and forth, and the Montana road conditions website became a “frequently-visited” site on both of their phones and computers. After several months of this back-and-forth, Kristina and Thomas realized that they couldn’t keep up this distance– they needed at some point soon to be closer. What they could have never foreseen was that in the week after this realization, the door for moving opened, in a way they were not excited about. Kristina received word that her school was losing funding…and being a newbie non-tenured teacher, she was the first to leave. While they were not excited for the disappearance of her position, they were intrigued with the way this event came about, and, after several months of interviewing and being offered a couple different positions, Kristina made the decision to accept an adjunct instructor position with MSU.

From being 2,500 miles apart, they would now be working on the same campus.

And, now here we are. And, looking back at our story, the only way we realize this could have all worked its way out (without either one of us running off, too!) was if God was at the center of the story as well.

Is that not a crazy story?! It is so obvious how much Kristina & Thomas love each other and it was such an honor to capture their love story! I hope you enjoy a few of my favorites!