High School Sweethearts' Train Inspired Engagement Shoot in North Carolina

Real Engagement: Tia & Tevin

Black African American fiancee Tia engaged engagement fiance Tevin photo shoot bride to be north carolina south southern southeast train station train tracks high school sweethearts

The story of Tia and Tevin began when each were merely school-aged children. Tevin and Tia played on the same youth basketball team when they were six and seven years old at their local YMCA. Later, both went to the same middle school and high school, where they were attracted to one another and began dating. For college, Tia moved to Charlotte, NC to go to Queens University and later she attended Elon University School of Law. Meanwhile, Tevin went on to Winston-Salem State University. Later he entered the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at Duke University. All the while, these sweethearts’ love stayed strong and stayed on track. When Tevin proposed he chose a sentimental location of their hometown of Rocky Mount, NC, specifically the local train station there. He coordinated with some of Tia’s best friends to surprise her. Tia’s best friend was enlisted to decorate the train station. Later, her job was to convince Tia to come over to her house, but on the way there, another friend called in need of a ride to the train station. All the while, Tevin was waiting inside the station with more of their friends and family. Obviously, Tia’s friend did not really need to take the train anywhere, it was the perfect lure to get Tia to the train station without question.

Naturally, when the pair planned their engagement photoshoot with their photographer, they sought to carry the story of the train station through their photos. Interestingly, their hometown is split by a railroad track. One side represents Nash County, where Tia lived, while the other side is Edgecombe County, where Tevin grew up. “We wanted our pictures to show the good that could come ‘from both sides of the track’ and resemble togetherness,” Tia said of their inspiration. The couple wed on December 31, 2021.