{engagement} louise + brad's parisian love

Hands down, we can all agree that Paris is the most romantic city in the world.  It's pure magic and here's Louise, the adorable bride to be sharing her story with us..."Four days before our 2 year anniversary, I was helping my friend move into her new apartment. After a few hours of work, we decided to take a break by going for a drink. During the car ride, my friends blindfolded me, turned up the music, and drove around for a while so I wouldn’t know where we were going. They finally parked and led me out of the car blindfolded to the spot where Brad was waiting. He had spent hours setting up a tent with lights, flowers, and candles in the park where we went on our first date. It was beautiful! Our song, 'Then' by Brad Paisley, was playing as I walked up and removed the blindfold. Brad got down on one knee, said some really sweet things that made me cry, and I said yes!

Before the proposal, we had planned a trip to Paris in December so Brad could meet my French grandparents and see where I spent my summers growing up. My grandparents live in a suburb of Paris. Once we got engaged, I had the idea that we should have our engagement pictures taken while we are in Paris. It would be so unique and romantic! I searched for engagement photographers in Paris and found Juliane Berry, an American wedding & engagement photographer living in Paris. I loved her style and we quickly arranged to meet in Paris for an engagement session. It was a great way for Brad to see the city for the first time because we went all over Paris during our session. We shot at Place Vendome, Place de la Concorde, Le Jardin des Tuileries, Le Louvre, Pont des Arts, Ile de la Cité, La Seine, Notre Dame and an outdoor café on the Ile Saint Louis.

I got the idea to leave a lovelock on the Pont des Arts from Pinterest and Juliane’s blog. I kept seeing it everywhere and I knew we HAD to do it! Once you fasten your lock to the bridge, you toss the keys into the Seine River below, symbolizing your eternal love. So romantic!

Not only was Juliane a wonderful photographer who made us feel very comfortable in front of the camera, she was an excellent tour guide. She recommended a restaurant, Chez Julien, where we had an amazing meal after our engagement session. I love how Juliane captured our personalities in the pictures. We don’t look posed or too serious.

I love that I was able to show Brad where I spent so much of my childhood and teenage years. I was able to share a different part of myself with him. I used to go with my family, so it was nice that I got to experience the romantic side of Paris with him. I also liked seeing my grand-père, who doesn’t speak English, and Brad, who doesn’t speak French, communicate with each other using hand gestures and the few English and French words they did know. I like that they made an effort to communicate and get to know each other despite the language barrier."

{Photography} Juliane Berry Photography