Holiday Engagement Shoot by McFadden Studios

Before we all shut down for the holidays, here is a fun engagement shoot to warm your hearts. I love everything about this shoot from the wardrobe, to the ornaments and of course those awesome lights. You just don't see lights like those anymore! Everything was captured perfectly by McFadden Studios.

"Nestled between a small private airport and a quaint small town in you will find a Pygmy Forest hidden from sight. Paige and Will thought it would be fun to decorate one of those pygmy trees with their special ornaments, wrap up in a cozy blanket with some home made hot chocolate and marshmallows, and watch a sunset together. They brought "Cupcake" along too, yes, it's the pale blue truck they snuggle up in. Paige handmade the wreath, marshmallows, garland, and some of the ornaments that adorn the tree for this session. Our hearts melted as we captured the love shared between these two."

Newlywed Holiday Cards

I absolutely love receiving all of the holiday cards in the mail this time of year.  There's something special about the bright & cheery smiles of my friends & their families, something I only feel when I receive snailmail.  I have to admit however, I am a bit sad that my fiance & I decided to hold off on sending out holiday cards until once we're married.  I guess that gives me plenty of time to look at all the designs & start planning next year's well in advance, right?!  {ha!} We'll likely use a picture taken at our August wedding for our card next year, but that doesn't mean I can't dream about the fantastic winter designs.  Some of my favorites include snow, which of course doesn't frequent the city of San Francisco.  Who knows, maybe come late November/early December 2013 we'll decide to forgo the obvious wedding picture & head up to Tahoe to take some snow-covered pictures of me & my Mr.

 

Sources (from top left) 1, 2, 3, 4

 

 

Woodland Engagement by Michelle Johnson Photography

This sweet engagement shoot offers some fun details and some totally personal touches that are totally pinworthy. I love engagement shoots with a few props, but I love engagement shoots that document love just as much. Together, this is the perfect touch of beauty and fun.

Are you adding props into your engagement photos?

Engagement Photos Revealed (and Featured!)

I have been DYING to share our engagement photos with you since we first got them from our photographer, as I am just absolutely smitten with them. And when I found out that Exquisite Weddings Magazine was going to feature them, I jumped out of my chair with excitement!!

Now that the post is live, I can finally gush over how amazing our photographer is. Fawn Christiansen of Sequins and Candy is a camera genius. I can't even tell you, I was genuinely shocked at how these photos came out. She was incredible at making us feel at ease, especially my camera-shy fiancé. Of all the photos we've taken over the last 6 years, I think I have a total of 5 photos of Kyle where he is not making some ridiculous face. Fawn literally quadrupled the number of nice photos I have of Kyle within the 2 hours she spent with us.

I must admit, though, that it's so funny to me to look at these photos because we felt SO awkward during the shoot. Kyle was giggling the whole time, which in turn made me giggley. This is the complete opposite of what I had always thought of engagement sessions. I always thought that you would just magically have the most romantic moment of your life and there was just a photographer there to capture it. Now I know that it's not quite that scenario, but looking at our photos, you'd have no idea. Or at least I've completely forgotten about any awkwardness and shyness we had!

Oh, and I absolutely have to thank Sasha Gold for my awesome hair and makeup (why can't I look like that every day?!). I was going to try to do it myself, but I am beauty challenged. I am SO GLAD that I trusted Sasha to fix me up. If you're taking your engagement photos somewhere other than where you're getting married, meaning you won't get to do your wedding hair and makeup trial on the day of your engagement photos, I highly recommend finding someone to take care of that task for you. Instead of having to rush out the door looking like normal, humdrum Kalista, I had a couple of hours to relax and chat with Sasha and her sweet rescue pup, Chica. It was just what I needed.

There's a number of photos that I love in the Exquisite Weddings Magazine feature, but here are a few of my favorites anyway! :)

       

I have no idea when Kyle turned into a J. Crew model, but my does he look fine! I'm a lucky girl.

It's so special to have these keepsake photos for the rest of our lives. Every time I look at them, I can't help but think about how much I love that man. I can't believe I get to marry him in just two and a half months!

Checking-In and Engagement Photo Reveal

As we approach the 60 day mark we have begun full crafting mode at our home. This weeks list of items to complete includes; creating envelope liners for our invitations, package the invitations and getting them in the mail. As you can imagine we have a lot to do in a short amount of time. I can't wait to share the final product and tutorials on how we created our invitations. In the mean time, please enjoy a few photos from our engagement session by the amazing Cinzo Photography.

 

 

Heather

Lavender Field Engagement Shoot

The styling done by Sherri J Photography  at this simply angelic lavender field instantly turned on the old fashion charm. The soft hues of the color scheme and the sweet shades of lavender capture the cuteness and adorableness of the couple. And they just seem to get lost in the deep sea of purple. Look at the way the photographer uses the garden tools, flowerpots, and the colorful macaroons to create this modern-chic prairie style engagement shoot!