Tag: Engagement Shoots

Engagement Shoot Allsorts

by gaby

Styling an engagement shoot is never the easiest thing – how do you settle on the perfect look and location to sum up the two of you as a couple (and make you look hot)? After all, you might be a couple who like to glam it up on a Saturday night, but think there’s nothing better than wellies and a walk in the countryside on a Sunday. One way that many couples work around this is to rock two or three different outfits during an engagement shoot, and today’s is a perfect example of how to do that beautifully! Megan and Eugene were photographed by Inecke de Kock in three different outfits and locations, and each says something special about the couple. I love their save the date calendar idea, as well as how they had fun including some of the local kids in their more formal shots. So cute! Thanks for sharing, Inecke!Read More

Motor Museum Engagement Shoot

by gaby

After a super chic wedding this morning, I have a lovely engagement shoot for you this afternoon! I’ve only ever driven past the Wijnland Motor Museum in Paarl, but what a photographer’s paradise it is! I love the background that the old cars create for these gorgeous pictures by Chrstine Watters, and the couple, Glenn and Viv, make amazing models – isn’t it the best when you can see how comfortable two people are together, and how they make each other smile? So darn cute. Thanks for sharing this, Christine!Read More

Love Letter Engagement Shoot

by gaby

Good morning, SouthBound brides… I have The Loveliest engagement shoot to share with you this morning! A couple of weeks ago, I noticed I’d had a new follow on Twitter from a photographer called Dear Wesleyann, who is based in Florida in the US. I happened to click through, and OMG, blog crush. I absolutely loved the style of Wesleyann’s website, but more importantly, I fell head over heels for her beautiful photographs. Which is saying something, considering how many lovely images I see every day. Her light, bright, clean and joyful style really appeals to me personally, and I soon got lost in her archives of pretty! I knew I had to share my special find with you, so I immediately fired off a mail to Wesleyann, who very kindly agreed to let me feature Tracie and Mark’s love letter-themed engagement. Eek! So that was the first exciting part. The next was when I read Tracie and Mark’s story, and why love letters are so important to their relationship and not just a nice prop – in fact, they incorporated the theme into their beautiful wedding as well. Bottom line? It adds up to one of my favourite e-sessions ever.Read More

Travel Themed Engagement Shoot

by gaby

Just when I think I’ve seen every new idea in engagement shoots, along comes a session that shows me that there are infinite ways for a clever couple (and a clever photographer) to express themselves. Alana and Chris are keen travellers, and I love how, together with the awesome Jacki Bruniquel, they used maps and even a written list of favourite places to highlight this in their pictures. Not only are they absolutely beautiful images, but they’re the kind of personal, meaningful ones that will be treasured for a lifetime.

Here’s Alana with a bit more about their (suitably jetset!) proposal:
We try to travel and explore quite a lot and I tend to be the one who puts our lofty plans into action…Chris knew that if he tried to book a trip somewhere it would be extremely suspicious so he just hijacked a weekend in Cannes, France that I had booked for us! He produced a ring out of nowhere while we were at the top of a hill in the Old Town, perched on an stone wall with a stunning view of the sun setting over the sea, eating macaroons we’d bought at a market earlier that day. It was so simple, happy, romantic and so perfectly us.Read More

Dreamy Park Engagement Shoot

by gaby

I am thrilled about this post, you guys! Thrilled, with a capital TH. One of the sheer pleasures I have in working in this wedding industry, apart from connecting brides and vendors, and hearing and telling your stories, is to work with photographers who take my breath away. Many of them are in South Africa, but today I’m featuring the work of a Portuguese duo who have not only wowed me with their collective styling and photographic genius, but have become dear online friends as well (hopefully to be realised in real life too, one day!). Andre and Sofia from Branco Prata are just the king and queen of  romantic, dreamy pics, and I can’t believe my luck that they’ve agreed to share some of that with you all today. You know, I love a shoot with props, but this little e-session shows that with the right photographer, even a simple stroll through a park can result in some of the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen. Seriously, I could have shared dozens with you – it was so hard to choose! But here are my favourites of the lovely Patricia and Andre, a doctor and nurse who were married in a beautiful wedding in Porto in June. Andre and Sofia – thank you so much for gracing these pages with your loveliness! It’s always such a pleasure working with you! (Psst! You can see more of this exquisite e-sesh right here.)Read More

Kalk Bay Engagement Shoot

by gaby

Ah, Kalk Bay. How I do love you. Except for the parking. True story: last time I went to Kalk Bay was a couple of months ago to meet my cousins for lunch. Beautiful hot day, summer Sunday afternoon… some kind of military show in Simonstown… traffic chaos. Kippie here decides to park right in the harbour, and let me tell you, after eleven years in London my parking skills are a**. Somehow I managed it, but came back to find an SUV wedged in next to me. What followed was ten minutes of stalling the car, twenty-point turning and an eventual offer from a complete stranger to drive my car out of the spot for me, which I politely declined before stalling the car yet again and finally getting on my way with the parking guard shaking his head after me. So. Humiliating. Meh, whatever, I still love Kalk Bay. And today I’m especially missing it as I’m featuring this sunny e-shoot by SBB friend and sponsor Cheryl McEwan. You saw her wedding last week, and today she’s showing you her moxy behind the lens. The result is a sweet and intimate engagement session for couple Riana and Shaun that captures the colour of this special part of the world. I especially love Riana’s styling – that dress is PERFECT for Kalk Bay! It’s definitely worth taking some time to think about the location of your shoot and dress to complement it (or the other way around) – I promise that the results will be worth it! Thanks for sharing, Cheryl!

Oh, and psssst! Come back later for another gorgey porgey wedding. Huzzah!Read More

Thrift Shop Engagement Session

by gaby

This afternoon I have a lovely, unique engagement shoot for you and a new photographer to introduce you to. Laura Jane Photography is based in Gauteng, and is one of the photographers I’m super stoked to be able to work with now that SBB has gone national. She went with today’s couple, Fransa & Grové, to Bellbottoms in Pretoria, a super cute and kitschy thrift shop in Pretoria. I love the intimacy of these pictures, even in a public space, and the way this couple clearly just love spending time together! You can see even more of the shoot over on Laura Jane’s blog.Read More

Fields of Gold Engagement Shoot

by gaby

I looooove this shoot. It’s so chilled out and dreamy; I feel like Sting should be playing in the background when I look at it. Simple ingredients: a couple in love + a field + awesome photographers Modern Hearts. Can’t go wrong!

Peter-Allan and Nicolene met at a mini-market – Nicolene says she fell in love with his voice before anything else! He surprised her with a proposal on a weekend away in Redelinghuys, right in the middle of town during an evening stroll. And of course, she said yes!Read More

Colourful Bo-Kaap Engagement Shoot

by gaby

Today I get to introduce you to three awesome people. First of all, is Cape Town photographer Charlene Schreuder. Charlene sent over this ahhhdorable engagement session, all shot in the Bo-Kaap, a fabulously colourful area of Cape Town (also known as the place I landed up instead of Plumstead when the satnav on my last rental car went crazytown on me… I’m just good with navigation like that). I fell in love with it, and with the couple in the pictures, who show how to absolutely rock an e-session – they’re fun, they’re playful, they’re affectionate, they’re relaxed, they’re incredibly photogenic. I guess it’s no surprise that not only are they Charlene’s dear friends, but are brilliant photographers themselves – meet Kerry and Luis of Piteira Photography in Lisbon, Portugal. (And sometimes also of Cape Town, South Africa, in case you thought our friends in Portugal had all the luck!) Every time I look at Charlene’s pictures I have a new favourite, and I know you will love them too.Read More

Mountain Climbing Engagement Session

by gaby

Today’s engagement session is just beyond cool! And so different. When photographer Mark Engelbrecht (a climber himself) found out Jorina and Stefan were keen mountaineers, the three of them hatched a plan for a truly unique photo shoot. Talk about tying the knot! And despite shooting with one hand while suspended from a rope, Mark got some beautiful images of this couple, absolutely in their element. I’m so excited to feature this here today!Read More