{engagement} lindsay + stephen

Happy Monday all...I'm so happy to share with you Lindsay and Stephen's beautifully lit travel theme engagement that they shot themselves. Here's what :Lindsay had to say..."This idea of travel is a symbol of the exciting relationship I have with my fiance, and will be the central theme for our wedding this coming spring. To expand on it even more, we decided to incorporate it into our engagement photos"

Stephen and I met when I started attending church at Living Hope Fellowship in Tomkins Cove, NY. Little did I know, he was actually the pastors son! Lucky me ;) 3 years later, Stephen popped the question, complete with the perfect fall day, a song he had written and recorded just for me and a gorgeous diamond ring!

We motivate and challenge each other to be the best artist and man/woman we can be. We inspire each other. We build each other up creatively and emotionally, and our faith, love of music, and our passion for the arts has shaped our relationship tremendously.

{Photography} Lindsay Danielle Photography

{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

{engagement} kara + rick

There is nothing I love more than couples who celebrate their love.  Today’s engagement session was just Kara + Rick, beautiful scenery and their first piece of furniture they purchased together.  These stunning photos were taken by David Lapham Photography. Here’s Kara with her story on their engagement “Our engagement has been such an amazing time and we really wanted pictures to capture this. So we contacted Dave Lapham who was going to be in town a few months later and we ended up taking these pictures in the town where the church was that we met at and close to the house he proposed in. I did not know how beautiful this town was until we reached this spot up on a hill. We were rushing to get it done before the sun went down but we certainly got the shots that Rick and I was hoping for. I begged Rick to bring the chair even though it was above 90 degree weather. This is our first piece of furniture that we purchased to begin our life together. The pictures turned out incredible and Dave did an amazing job. We are both so grateful that we are able to capture the most beautiful moment in our lives thus far.  Our wedding will be May 20, 2012 in Lakeland, FL.”

{Photography} David Lapham Photography

{engagement} madeline + brian

 Madeline & Brian's love affair with water runs deep, so it was a no-brainer to do their engagement session at the beautiful St Croix river near Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Brian is a professional fisherman, and although Madeline isn't naturally the outdoorsy type, over their nearly decade long courtship, Brian has taught her to love to great outdoors.  The couple got engaged at the beautiful Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota, which is a 1+ million acre nature reserve, free of any motorized vehicles or boats.  They spent a romantic few days canoeing and camping, surrounding by nothing but nature, before Brian popped the question.  They couldn't even call anyone to tell them the news, being as there is no cell reception in this rural area!  Because they got engaged on their canoe, it only made sense to incorporate it into their engagement session.

{Photography} Laura Ivanova Photography

{Cupcakes} Cocoa and Fig

{Shoes} Fendi pumps

{engagement} amy + jared

There is something so sweet about today's engagement session from {Blest Photography}. For the first 

time in P&P history we have the groom-to-be share how they met. "To summarize: when Amy and I first met on the plane down to Mexico City, she was reading my favorite book of all time, Les Misérables. More or less, what went through my mind at that point was, "In a world of Twilight and Nick Sparks, it is extremely  unusual and refreshing to see such a pretty girl reading such a stellar book." And the plane rides to and from Mexico City were the beginning of a budding friendship over the following months."

"During those months, we talked a lot about books we liked. It is rare to find someone who will admit to a love of reading, and I really enjoyed talking with Amy about books, because while we shared some favorites (like Les Mis), she also really expanded my reading palate. To be quite honest, I started borrowing books from her just so I'd have extra excuses to come see her at her apartment in Boone. In fact, the day I asked her out I was returning The BFG, by Roald Dahl. (On a side note, she had just woken up from a nap when I returned the book to her place, and I judged it to be unwise to ask her out while she was only mildly coherent. I called her later.)"

"So, in a nutshell, reading and books have been and continue to be a fun and integral part of our relationship. You'll find on that website some detail about the book I made her to execute "the Proposal."  (Click HERE for more on the proposal.)"

{Photography} Blest Photography

{engagement} amber + johnny

Happy 2012!! There is no denying that today's couple is completely in love with each other.  Amber + Johnny's vintage 1930s inspired engagement shoot had me smitten from the moment I first opened my inbox. I can't get enough of the couple's style, gorgeous locations and that vintage 1939 Buick. 

The shoot started off in Exiley’s nursery in Sewell, NJ to Penn Treaty park in Philadelphia and topped off the night with some cocktails at the Ranstead Room.  

From Amber "We knew that we did not want typical engagement photos and were looking for a photographer to help us create something theatrical.  We knew that Maria was the photographer for us when her eyes lit up to this idea.  She had the vision of the shoot and what she was looking for before we even left her office from our first meeting!  Maria suggested the 1920's/1930's time period and we fell in love with the idea.  Because she is so creative, we let her take control and followed her lead from the costumes to the car to the locations... it was all amazing!  Our favorite photos and part of the shoot was towards the very end when we were in the restaurant, The Ranstead Room.  We love the photos of us in the booth and in the street outside of the restaurant.  We looked and felt so glamorous... like movie stars!  We had so much fun the day of the shoot and were sad when it was over... we wanted to wake up and do it all over again the next day!  We have been obsessed with the photos since we saw them and are so happy with Maria's vision!" 

{Photography} Maria Mack Photography

{Stylist} Rob Paluso

{Prop Styling} Maria Mack 

{Hair/Make Up} B. Wilson

{Custom head piece} Cori Hutcherson