Mr. and Mrs. Whitney Godwin Saunders of Suffolk announce the engagement of their daughter Mary-Carson Brewer Saunders to Joshua David Stiff, son of Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey Sampson Stiff of Richmond.

Miss Saunders is a granddaughter of Dr. and Mrs. James Pennock Harrison Jr. of Rose Valley, Penn., and Mrs. Ritchie Curtis Saunders Jr. and the late Mr. Saunders of Suffolk.

Mr. Stiff is a grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Leonard Bean, formerly of Hallowell, Maine, and Mrs. Bernard George Edmund Stiff and the late Mr. Stiff of Lynnfield, Mass., and Center Ossipee, N.H.

The bride-elect graduated from St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, Del., and from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and is a candidate for the Juris Doctor Degree from the George Wythe School of Law at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg in May.

The future bridegroom graduated from Collegiate School in Richmond, and from Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., and is also a candidate for the Juris Doctor Degree from the George Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary in May.

An October wedding in Suffolk is planned.