Our Chilly Engagment Photo Shoot
While home for the holidays Dan and I met with our wedding photographer Paul Harrison for an engagement shoot in the historic center of Fredericksburg, Virginia. As a pinterest-enthusiast (who isn’t) weeks prior I went crazy swooning over engagement poses, I even created an entire board for the event. In the end though, I was all kinds of wrong, an engagement shoot is mention to capture your natural connection. Maybe it’s a good idea to look at the camera, wear something nice, but that’s about it.
On the coldest day of the year, we met outside of Hyperion Espresso cafe. To avoid immediately freezing our buns off we ducked inside to for a few shots beside the window. With the morning light trickling in we grabbed coffees and chatted about how awkward it felt to have a giant camera pointed in our direction. Later Dan said that he felt stiff in the cafe, meanwhile I was channeling my inner Kim K. in which the paparazzi just happens to know her every move.
With the sun finally doing it’s part to warm up the day, we took the show outside to Caroline Street, the main street in downtown Fredericksburg. At this point I think Dan started to relax and bit and our conversation evolved into chatter about the dinner with friends the night prior.
Then my Mom showed up.
Having parked the car and acquired coffee, she found us on the street. Giant coffee in hand, a winter coat consuming her and purse full of snacks, she pulls out her 2002 era point-and-shoot and starts snapping away. What on Earth? She claimed to be ‘capturing the experience’ but Dan and I were in hysterics. Mom’s can be SO funny.
Needing reprieve from the chill, we ducked into a charming antique shop for more indoor shots. After getting approval from the shop-owner (this is important, by the way) we found our way to a display of metallic china. In everyday life I am constantly smiling (“Smiling’s my favorite!”) so despite Paul’s honest attempts to capture a more serious expression, I’m not sure how well it panned out. He was a sport though, counting down 3-2-1 to relax my expression with each shot. While Dan tinkered around looking at the antiques my Mom stepped up and held the remote flash to add a nice affect to the picture.
Heading back outside, I spotted a beautiful blue door frame, nearly matching our wedding color JCrew’s Casablanca Blue. Lauren, Dan’s sweet sister, had just given me a beautiful scarf for Christmas which matched the scene perfectly. That darn coat though, I just had to keep it on, it was just too cold. I’ll admit, I’m a heat-loving wimp.
A final jacketless shot. Some of my girlfriends claim this to be there favorite but I think I’m partial to our Kate & William impersonation. What do you think?
Afterwards we dove into a nearby cafe and chugged down warm coffees, very pleased with our morning. Hat’s off to Paul for sending us full digital proofs of the images within THREE days of the shoot. At that time I was already back in Germany so instead of a CD, which he typically provides, he uploaded everything to google drive. Not only is he a great guy but an extremely talented photography. Wouldn’t you agree? For any brides in Virginia, I highly recommend him! www.paulharrisonphoto.com
Our big day is June 14th, I’m soooo stinking excited! Feel free to check out our little wedding website: www.margo-and-daniel.com