Nicole & Michael are another super fun couple that we had a great time working with on their Chesapeake City engagement session. Michael is an engineer who works on bridges, so we wanted to do their session with a cool bridge in the background, something unique. I used to go down to Maryland all the time when I had a boat down there. There’s this really cool abandoned farmland with a barn, and right beyond that is a bridge that crosses Back Creek in Chesapeake City. They had a gorgeous day for a Getting to Know You session. Because it was a little bit of a destination session, Nicole & Michael did two outfit changes. We started at the abandoned farm and then crossed the bridge and shot more in Chesapeake City. While we were photographing in Chesapeake City, we came across a house that had a trampoline in their backyard. So, of course, I had the couple sneak in the open gate and jump on the trampoline. We created beautiful custom Save the Date cards, a Getting to Know You album and a gorgeous wall art piece of them underneath the bridge in silhouette. I can’t wait to see Nicole and Michael again at their wedding this fall at The Old Mill at Rose Valley in Pennsylvania.
Chesapeake City, Maryland is a small canal town in Cecil County sitting right on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, one of the most heavily traveled commercial waterways in the country. The town itself is tiny, maybe 800 residents, but the architecture along the South Side is full of Victorian houses, wide porches, and cobblestone alleys that feel completely removed from suburban life. Back Creek cuts through the middle, and the swing bridge crossing over it has become one of the most-photographed structures in the region for good reason. For photographers who work primarily in the Philadelphia-South Jersey market, Chesapeake City is roughly 90 minutes south and worth every minute for couples who want something completely different than a park or a rooftop.
The combination of locations in Nicole and Michael’s session captures what makes Chesapeake City work so well: the abandoned farmland north of town gives you open sky and rural texture, and then the town itself delivers intimate streets, waterfront light, and architectural backdrops you can’t find anywhere in New Jersey. Doing two outfit changes allowed each setting to breathe instead of rushing through both in one look.
Planning a destination engagement session in the region? See our guide to the best Philadelphia area wedding venues for more inspiration on unique locations worth the drive.
