When it came to our engagement photos, I had a lot of specific ideas in mind. I really wanted them to capture the whimsy and fun of our relationship. Fortunately, I had a photographer who was totally on board – Lindsey with Redwood + Sage – and a stunning location.
We were getting married at the Cheyenne Cañon Inn, and Jeannie (our hostess) was kind enough to let us use the venue for our engagement photos.
When we first sat down with Lindsey for our photography consultation, I expressed that our engagement photos were just as important to us as our wedding photos, so we set aside some extra time to really do them right. I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out! We did 3 different setups, each expressing a different side of our relationship and personality.
We started with the simplest, more modest shoot, which was us just hanging around this gorgeous location. All of my outfits for this shoot were found through thrift shopping, with my hair & make-up done by my usual stylist, Hannah Wilfong. These pictures turned out so much better than I could have even dreamed. We had mostly done them so we would have a “regular” option to look at if we ever grew out of our cosplaying, eccentric phase. I don’t know if or when that will ever happen, but I am still so happy we took these.
Next up, was the most whimsical shoot. This was all about those props! We were fortunate to have great helpers in our best friends, Tiffany and Fernando. We brought all of these props from home and they diligently worked in the summer heat to set them up in one of the more forest-like parts of the property.
Tiffany and I had lived together for 5 years leading up to me moving in with Adam and had all these fabrics from what we called “The Chill Zone.” It was a little tent area we had set up in our house with air mattresses, loads of pillows, and twinkle lights. Everything else in these pictures – the books, chest, swords, mirror, etc. – were just things we had around the house!
Adam wore his Doctor Who suit and I wore another thrifted dress that was an insanely lucky find! I bought the flower crown off Amazon. I had been considering whether I wanted to put my bridesmaids in flower crowns for the actual wedding, and this sealed the deal!
I absolutely adore these photos. I feel like they are a scene from our imaginations.
Now, as a photographer, you try to plan the lighting as best as possible, but weather is going to do what weather is going to do. Luck definitely plays a part in it and we just happened to be in this little meadow at the right moment. This photo is pure magic to me. Thank you, Lindsey!
Last up, was a tea party! As Lady Woolthief, I HAD to do a shoot showing off my hats and fortunately I married an amazing guy who fully supported that! Part of the reason I absolutely knew we had to get married at the Cheyenne Cañon Inn was because Jeannie had all these cute Alice in Wonderland references everywhere!
I had a very specific idea in mind for our Save the Dates and Lindsey did a great job executing it. We made a sign with our wedding date on it and found a great clock while thrift shopping. The sign said 1/19/19 on it and the clock read 10 o’clock – the date and time for our wedding. The front of our Save the Date was that first picture, and the back was… well, our backs. Best of all, we were already at our venue!
The rest of the photos from this part of the shoot always put a huge smile on my face, as do the memories surrounding them. Clouds are great for even lighting, but rain is not always welcome on a photoshoot and it was starting to sprinkle. But at one point, we looked over and there was a gorgeous rainbow. We had to rush to finish up the photos before it started to rain in earnest, but you really can’t tell because Lindsey did such a great job making sure we got everything we wanted.
By the way… this dress was also a thrift store find and absolutely perfect!
After the photoshoot, I felt so glammed up that I wasn’t ready to go home. Adam and I went to Sonic of all things! Not sure what the thinking behind that was, lol. A couple months later we received our photos and were completely blown away! They really did perfectly capture everything we wanted in our engagement photos, and were completely personal and unique to us.