One of the best things for me about blogging is fabulous people who make up the blog community internationally. I have a lot of love for many of these ladies and their blogs, but today I get to introduce you to one of them who’s also part of the (small but emergent) South African blogging world (and we all know local is lekker!). Oh Darling Bride! is a charming collaboration between two South African real life brides, who bring you finds and favourites from around the web as they make their own wedding journeys (so be sure to check it out!). One of them, Monique, is here today to share her engagement session, shot by the fabulous Warren Williams, and the super cute story of how she and fiance, Kaz, came to meet. I just love how sweet and genuine these two are in front of the camera, and it just shows that being yourselves and having fun make for the best photographs.

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As a wedding obsessed blogging bride-to-be, I was thrilled to win an engagement shoot with Cape Town based photographer Warren Williams, but as a camera-shy girl, I was equally nervous.

It was a freezing cold Saturday in early August and we had planned to take photos in Kirstenbosch but the clouds blanketed the mountain in a threatening shade of grey so we relocated to Rhodes Memorial. Warren made us feel so relaxed, helped us to forget the cold, our nerves and best of all, he made us laugh!

After our experience I would definitely recommend an e-session as a way to help couples learn to have fun in front of the camera, deal with any camera anxiety and find some poses that work.

How we met
Kaz and I had to fly halfway round the world to meet on route to Florida, USA in 2002 as two young South Africans on our way to work in a country club.

I turned around in my seat, aimlessly looking down the aisle, when our eyes met. Kaz gave me the biggest, brightest smile. My heart skipped a beat. We weren’t looking for love when we met, but fell anyway.

How he proposed
Flash forward to Sunday, 21 March 2010. We were strolling along Muizenberg beach in the late afternoon sunshine when Kaz stopped, dropped to one knee and pull a ring box out of his pocket. I will never forget that his voice cracked a little, choking back tears, when he said, “would you do the honour of marrying me?” That was the clincher for me. We were engaged and within days set our date to be on the anniversary of the proposal.

Our engagement shoot featured on Warren Williams’ blog. I also wrote about the engagement shoot experience on Oh Darling Bride!