Farm engagement shoot by Ulmer Studios

Saturday engagement shoots are back! I was so happy to stumble upon the incredible work of Josh & Amber from Ulmer Studios a little while back, and even happier to be featuring one of their gorgeous shoots on the blog today. I mean how stunning are these two? That farm just looks like a little slice of heaven! Happy weekend everyone... I hope you have something fun planned!

 

Beachside engagement shoot by Benjamin & Elise Photography

Sorry I've been awol for the last couple of days!! These past few months have been crazy crazy busy with invites, and the lead up to Christmas trying to get all jobs out the door is always rather manic. This year I made yesterday my absolute deadline for getting all jobs back from the printer and out the door and I'm SO happy to say I stuck to it and achieved it!! I'm taking a bit of a break from Ruby & Willow for the next 4-5 weeks to catch up on life... (seriously that's how it feels at this time of year), and also work on the magazine. I also find that I'm so busy, that any thought of Christmas - decorating, present buying or entertaining - takes a back seat, so I'm really quite excited at the prospect of having 10 days ahead of me to get my Christmas on! In fact no sooner did that last job go out the door, my first decorations came out!! Next week I plan to take plenty of walks with Charlie on the beach, have my nieces over to stay and do some baking and fun things with them, and go shopping without stressing about the time factor!! Woohoo!!

Anyway I'll leave you on this stunning Saturday (seriously this past week of sunny weather is already more than what we had the whole of last summer!!), with this sweet and simple beachside engagement shoot from Benjamin & Elise Photography.

Sweetheart Session by Tealily Photography

I'm thrilled to be featuring the beautiful work of Trish & Joel from Tealily Photography out of Australia this morning. This adorable sweetheart session took place towards the end of winter. It just looks like the perfect afternoon with hot chocolate and marshmallows, barefoot walks with the jetty underfoot, and cozy blankets and the arms of a loved one to keep warm. Uber Romantic!!

I hope you have something nice planned for the weekend... all I can think of right now is the sleep I need to catch up on today after almost 2 weeks of very broken sleep (thanks to continuing fireworks resulting in a restless, scared puppy!). Hopefully we're at the end of it now! I hope you have a lovely weekend whatever you have planned. K xo

Wintery engagement shoot by Red Telegram

Hey kids... what are you up to this weekend? We're off to the Coldplay concert tonight which should be fabulous!!! And apart from that, no other plans which I love!! We're still dealing with a mildly traumatised puppy since there are still fireworks going off at night, so after a week of very interrupted sleeps we'll be trying to catch up!

Whilst we're dying for summer to hit in force around here, I can still see the appeal of a cosy and moody winter shoot like this one. And if you read their thoughts behind the shoot it'll warm your heart even more!! Eleece and Jake won a ‘Win Your Winter Wedding’ competition run by Melbourne Photographers, Red Telegram. They sent us in some photos and a beautiful letter, with a quote that really moved us "She said 'I'm afraid of falling...' and he whispered 'I have wings.'"

Sarah from Red Telegram says; "For their e-session, I wanted to create a particularly ‘wintery’ environment, to explore what a beautiful and romantic time of year winter can be, a time to snuggle up under blankets with our loved ones and relish what is most precious...each other.
So we went up into the Dandenong Ranges, just outside Melbourne, on the day of the winter solstice. It was bitterly cold, about 5degrees, and it rained the whole time, but Eleece and Jake were not the tiniest bit precious about that. That were out together, having an adventure, with lots of opportunities to cuddle, and that was all that mattered! As they said when describing their wedding day to us “Our belief is that love, family and food warm the heart”.

Vancouver engagement shoot by Christie Graham

Hello there!! How was your weekend? I think I mentioned on Friday that we were having a pretty quiet weekend due the the hubs having his wisdom teeth out. Let me tell you, for a man who is very food driven, eats high protein 5 times a day and is constantly thinking about his next meal... eating pureed foods is quite simply his idea of a nightmare!! But hey he survived... another few days and we should be back on solids :-). We had an interesting night last night with all the fireworks going off for Guy Fawkes day today. Charlie had an absolute freakout when they started going off next door! We could not calm her, her poor wee heart was absolutely racing. Eventually I went into the office, played music as loud as I could and she just hid in the corner of the room under a chair all night! Let's hope we don't have to do this to her every year! And this is living in the country... imagine if we were in the 'burbs! Poor wee thing.

First up for the week we have a lovely engagement shoot all the way from one of my favourite cities - Vancouver - from Christie Graham who let's us know a bit more about the session...

Real couple Glenn and Caylin wanted a styled engagement session that was both masculine and feminine, and extra elegant with black and white palette. Inspired by the couples living space, we wanted to bring a bit of their home to the outside, somewhere that was special to them. While some of the pieces came right from Glenn and Caylin's modern apartment in down town in Vancouver, most of the pieces were pulled from the Cross Design to reflect the couples personality. Glenn was a bit unsure at first, but once we brought in some fine scotch and a decorative deer mount, he was really into it! It's really important for me, as a photographer, to reflect a couple's true personality. I was so excited when Glenn and Caylin saw the photos and said, 'wow, this is SO us!'

The black and white palette was a new experience for me, as I just love soft blush tones and natural light. That's why it was so important that we shoot this outside bringing in the soft greens from nature's willow tree.

Photography | Christie Graham, Styling and creative director | Love of Fair Events, Details and furniture pieces | The Cross, Makeup | Jasmine Hoffman, Dress | Jacqueline Conoir, Calligraphy | Laura Lavender, Flowers | SM Flowers, Cake and cupcakes | The Cake and the Giraffe, Champagne | Veuve Clicqout

Round up | Romantic Canoe Photos

There is something ever so romantic about floating on the water with your loved one in a canoe or rowboat, and lately I've been seeing a lot of couples bringing this into their wedding photography - pretty sure The Notebook is responsible for this resurgence to a large extent!! Ryan Gosling in a rowboat is pretty inspiring right? Just last week we saw images of actress Amber Tamblyn arrive by canoe for their wedding ceremony, and as you can see in this round up plenty of couples are taking to the water to capture some fun and romantic moments. Although I'm quite sure some of these moments must end up as very candid falling in water shots too! If you're not quite brave enough to jump into a vessel on water, use it as part of your wedding decor like in the bottom image. Makes for a fun display or way to keep all your beverages cold... perfect for a outdoor or backyard wedding. So tell me would you go for a trip downstream to capture the perfect romantic canoe shot? I wouldn't hesitate!

 Photos; Oh Darling Photography | Our Labor of Love

 Photos; Love is a Big Deal | Bethann Greenburg Photography

 Photos; Mastin Studio | Ryan Ray | Julie Harmson

 Photo; Elizabeth Messina

 Photos; Caroline Tran | Ashley Forrette

Photos; Mastin Studio | Style Me Pretty

South African Love Shoot by Carolien & Ben

It's been a while since I've featured an engagement shoot and who doesn't love a gorgeous sunlit love shoot like this one by Carolien & Ben on a Tuesday afternoon!! Love the pop of the red skirt against the golden tones of the field. These two sweeties are getting married in December... can just imagine how stunning they will be in their wedding pics!

Outdoors Engagement shoot by Shannon Elizabeth

Why hello weekend!! Even though I work from home and there's pretty much always work to be done, I still love the sense of freedom that Saturday morning brings! If I do have work to do, somehow it just feels more relaxed. 

Shannon Elizabeth sent this sweet and outdoorsy engagement shoot our way. There is something very romantic about canoeing or floating down a serene lake/river, so to me it's perfect for an engagement shoot. I adore the outfits they've chosen as well. From Shannon... "Ashley and Spence met in the heart of Dixie...that is, they met while going to school at Dixie College in St. George, Utah. They flirted, they dated, they fell in love, and the rest is history! For their engagements, they wanted something that would reflect their fun personalities and incorporate  the outdoors, but also keep it simple at the same time. And what's more fun and outdoorsy than a canoe and the beautiful backdrop of the beautiful Utah mountains."