Natalie wanted flowers everywhere for this session, and once I knew why, it made perfect sense: she and Caden are naming their daughter Violet. So a maternity session at The Glasshouse on Monroe — forty acres of gardens, greenhouses, and wildflower fields outside Spokane — wasn’t just a pretty backdrop. In fact, it was the theme.
How they met
Natalie and Caden met on Tinder, of all places, and told me their first impression of each other came down to how well their energy and humor matched — something that’s clearly still true. They’re a couple who love a quiet night in watching TV together. When I asked what they loved most about each other, they both said the same thing: how caring the other one is. Furthermore, Natalie told me she was most looking forward to seeing that love show up in actual photos. That’s exactly what this session turned into.
We started in the flowers themselves — rows of lavender giving way to a meadow of cornflowers and poppies, tall enough that the two of them almost disappeared into it. Natalie wore an off-the-shoulder white top and skirt for the entire session, her belly bare between the two. The light that evening was doing exactly what golden hour is supposed to do.
From there we moved to the garden house — a white cottage with string lights strung along the roofline and climbing roses working their way up the walls. We spent time both on the steps leading up to it and just inside the doorway. Some of my favorite frames from the whole session came from here: the two of them tucked in close on the steps, laughing about nothing in particular.
We also spent time on the open lawn between the garden buildings — walking hand in hand, a slow spin that turned into one of my favorite sequences of the day. There was also a long embrace with the property’s rooflines soft in the background.
The greenhouse was the last stop — a big arched structure with reclaimed wood framing, string lights, and glass walls looking straight out over the property’s rolling fields. We shot from inside, just the two of them standing close in all that light. Then I stepped back outside to catch them through the windows. At that moment, they were half-hidden behind a rose bush with the string lights catching the last of the sun. That one might be my favorite image of the whole day.
We closed things out with Natalie alone, bending to smell a climbing white rose near the garden house as the light went gold behind her. This was a quiet, unplanned moment. It ended up saying more than most of the posed shots.
Why I Love Glasshouse on Monroe
The property has enough distinct areas — wildflower fields, the garden house, the greenhouse, open lawn — that you get real variety without ever leaving the grounds. This is true whether you’re planning a maternity session, an engagement session, or a wedding. Evening sessions are worth planning for specifically: the light moves through those fields in a way that’s hard to fake. Additionally, the greenhouse’s glass walls catch it beautifully in the last hour before sunset. I’d love to shoot a wedding here someday, too — it’s exactly the kind of venue that photographs as good as it feels to stand in.
Baby Violet is due in early August, and I’ll be back at the hospital for her newborn session not long after. I’ll link that story here once it’s up.
If you’re planning a Wedding at Glasshouse on Monroe or interested in a maternity or family session there — I’d love to talk about it. www.archandelm.com/contact
Want to see more family work? You can check out another Maternity Session here, https://archandelm.com/2026/07/16/aeriell-sam-studio-maternity-session-afterglow-spokane/
