sam & jaime // engagement party

Sam & Jaime. I affectionately refer to them as “The Power Couple,” because… well, because they are. I met them, though, and became friends with them, before they even knew each other. Sam is a strange mixture of sarcasm and sincerity, and has this funny Indian humor thing going on that is absolutely hilarious. Jaime is witty and snarky, never short of comebacks or opinions, and has a huge heart. I was friends with both of them, and didn’t realize they didn’t know each other… until one evening we were all talking, and I said, “Sam, have you met Jaime yet?” And the snarky hilarity multiplied umpteen times.

It just so happened that they were both studying for the Bar Exam, which was a good excuse to hang out a lot. So convenient, right? Not long after, Sam subtly asked me for advice on “how to do a non-intense first date” when he really likes a girl. “You know, I don’t want to freak her out,” he said. Just a week or two later, Jaime blushed a little bit when she told me that she and Sam were dating, and I grinned like… well, I don’t know what I grinned like. Just a lot.

Usually I’d say the rest was history, except Sam & Jaime’s “history” involved things like hunting with Jaime’s dad in Michigan, and hiking Mount Kilimanjaro together just a couple of months after they started dating, and training for a half marathon together. Sam proposed to Jaime on the coldest day in February, while they were out on a training run, while I hid behind a tree so Jaime couldn’t see me. (You can see their engagement announcement in the Washington Post Express here.)

Tonight I’m shooting their rehearsal dinner/Sangeet. Tomorrow I’m shooting their wedding. I loooooooooove that I’ve been a part of so much of their relationship up to this point. All snarky comments aside, Sam & Jaime are one of the most solid, encouraging couples that I know. I’m grateful for their friendship, and grateful to know that I’ll have some good, dependable married friends soon. So tomorrow? Pretty sure I might cry during their wedding ceremony.

Sam said he’s going to name one of their not-yet-existant twin daughters after me. I plan to hold him to that promise.

.  .  .

These are just a few pictures of Sam & Jaime’s engagement party. An Indian celebration on St. Patrick’s Day, during which Sam’s father tries to convince the crowd that Arora (Sam’s last name) is actually derived from O’Rora, from Irish immigrants who settled in India centuries ago, and therefore it is perfectly fitting that we eat Indian food and dance to Indian music on such a day.

Oh, Sam. You come by it honest.