As a proud Texas State Bobcat (#eatemupcats), I almost feel guilty for loving UT as much as I do, but this beautiful campus is exactly three miles from my home and now that I no longer shoot grads, I was SO stoked that Ale and Noah picked their alma mater for their UT Austin engagement photos! I’ll gladly Hook ‘Em for college sweethearts, y’all!

Noah and Ale met at a UT co-op, where we were both living at the time. She had moved into the co-op at the beginning of her time at UT and he had been there for two years and was finishing up his grace semester. He had just graduated and had decided he was heading out west to San Francisco. Noah and Ale had bumped into each other before, but it wasn’t until Halloween night that we clicked at the annual Halloween Party. According to Ale, “He actually stole a cookie out of my hand. The cookie was realllllllly hard and since he was a little tipsy he exclaimed “This isn’t a cookie, this is a biscotti!” and then proceeded to throw the cookie on the ground. I take my cookies standards seriously, so I knew he was something special from that moment.” 😂 It’s so funny what seals the deal for people and their true love.

The rest of their love story is just as adorable! These two are people after my own heart – they try to visit 2 – 3 national parks a year. Last December, they made the trip out to Big Bend (AKA my favorite National Park outside of Glacier NP in Montana! Noah originally intended to ask Ale to marry him during a meteor shower but cloud cover made that impossible. So what did he do?! Only the most adorable thing ever: he proposed while fossil hunting (Ale loves dinosaurs!) at sunset. He pretended he found something and bent down on one knee to show Ale – and BOOM. He proposed. 😭😭😭

If you’re not totally sold on this couple already, I don’t know what to tell you! I’m so stoked for their intimate Chapel Dulcinea wedding and their backyard Texas Hill country celebration in a couple months.

Now that I’ve shared these UT Austin engagement photos, I HAVEEE to re-share this Texas State love story from Matt + Emily again, too! 😉