Jamari Espresso House Ottawa Engagement

Casey & I met up with Nicholas & Amanda at one of their fav Ottawa coffee shops, Jamari Espresso House, to get some epic engagement pics.

We met briefly at a keg party in university, and for a year and a half we kept running into each other around campus at Carleton University before I asked her out for lunch. Thirty minutes before our date Amanda fell off her bike and really cut up her knee, but she still showed up on time, blood running down her shin and a big smile on her face.
Nicholas

Nick scoped out the parlour and then held my hand while I got my first tattoo. The design is the vegan symbol framed inside a light bulb. It signifies that reducing harm to the environment and animals through veganism is a radical idea that means a brighter future for our planet.
Amanda

On our second date, we stopped at a Carleton University campus Tim Hortons for coffee and then sat by the Ottawa River between classes. Nick ordered a bagel and while we waited for it to be toasted, we pushed the conversation forward in the awkward way that people do when they’re both making too much of an effort, both staring at the same coffee machine behind the counter. I was the only coffee drinker then, but a lot more than that has changed since. Nick gave in to caffeine in his final year of university, and developed his tastes during the year we spent apart, while I completed a contract at Disney World.
Amanda

Coffee, to us, is one of the many threads that weaves our lives together. Nick grinds the beans himself, and makes me a fresh cup every morning. On weekdays, he puts it in a thermos before driving me to work. On the weekends, he passes it to me wordlessly with the handle pointed out so I don’t lose track of the line I’m reading. On vacations, we wake up early to discover new cafés that speak to the region we’re visiting. Coffee is our simplest wedding vow. It’s a promise to wake up and start each day, enthusiastic and together.