Wedding Wednesdays: Engagement Session

It's the moment you've been waiting for, dear readers: the posting of our engagement photos!  But first you're going to have to read a bit of narrative - or you could scroll down, look at the pictures, and then come back up to the story.  It's up to you.  But I do want to talk about the amazing experience we had with Tarah a few weeks ago when we met up for our session, because it was even better than I had hoped it would be.

When Jon and I talked about our priorities for our wedding, a great photographer was in my top three.  Jon didn't really understand because he's not a pictures guy, but he respected how strongly I felt about having really fantastic photos that would last us for decades and agreed that it would be a good investment.  (This piece ended up being 5% of our total budget.)  He especially didn't understand the need for engagement photos. I could be wrong, but I think that this is possibly not yet mainstream for English couples; Jon's parents as well as most of our friends in London asked why we were doing the shoot and were confused when I tried to explain.  But Jon gamely agreed to participate in the session, and so, a few hours after I landed at Heathrow on that Friday in mid-September, we headed to More London to meet Tarah.  (For the record, my outfit was as advertised except that I stuck with the pearl studs. The bling Kate Spade earrings ended up being too much with the belt and shoes.)

She immediately put us at ease - Jon was actually much less tense than I thought he'd be and I turned out to be the anxious one, but Tarah made us feel like we were all friends just out for a stroll and so we quickly relaxed into our natural selves.  We started right on the river, on the south bank just west of Tower Bridge, and then made our way east to Butler's Wharf and back into the cobblestoned streets of Shad Thames.  (Selena recently posted a great series of photos from the area since she just moved nearby!)  We laughed and talked for an hour and a half and had simply the best time.  That's what London is to us, you know.  It's not props or set pieces or costumes.  It's just us, wandering around and loving the opportunity to be together in one of the best cities in the world.

I'll leave you to check out the pictures now, but I do just want to say one more thing in praise of Tarah: I wasn't self-conscious at all during the session.  It's doubtful that I've ever in my entire life gone for 90 minutes - even not in front of a camera - without once thinking "must suck my stomach in" or "this smile is definitely too squinty."  She put us so at ease that I was encouraged to just be myself, to enjoy the afternoon and London and my fiancé.  And that was what made the shoot truly magical.

linking up with something charming today for Wedding Wednesdays!