Morning Lovely Peeps,

Do we have an awesome engagement shoot to share with you today.

Those of you who have been following Festival Brides for a while will know that I am a huge fan of landscape shots. I just love how much emotion, drama, atmosphere and story telling one beautifully captured photograph can contain and this engagement shoot is full of them. Picture a couple's silhouette on top of a mountain peak with miles and miles of countryside below and you will be pretty close to what this shoot has in store.

Captured by one of my favourite photographers, Ryan from Shutter Go Click, this shoot is a brilliant example of why engagement shoots are going through a revival this year.

Rachel and Mark share how they met and their plans for their Christmas wedding.

Unfortunately we met in a club in Leeds that I wouldn't be seen dead in now. (cough cough SPACE). It's quite cringey really but neither of us can actually remember meeting, we had both had a little too much of the juice and it was only the two days later when I realised that I had a random 'Mark' in my phone book and had absolutely no idea who it was or how it got there. Luckily for us, the wonderful world of Facebook helped jog our memories and we were both very impressed with how well our beer goggles had served us. Only catch was, Mark was actually from Bristol (which is a 4 hour drive away from Leeds) and was only in Leeds for the weekend. The distance couldn't keep us apart though, after 6 months of monthly visits, Mark took the gamble and moved to the good old North. And the rest is history as they say.

Bit boring but we went for a cuppa at Bagel Nash. Exciting.

Mark proposed, obviously. We have a dog called Wilson and we always walk him every weekend at Temple Newsam. It was quite early so there was nobody around and we were walking across the field in front of the main house. Mark asked me to run off in front to see if our dog Wilson would run to me. Unbeknownst to me, Mark had actually sneakily attached an engagement ring to his collar so that when he ran to me, I would notice the ring and Mark would be on one knee. However, I totally missed it and carried on walking. Doh! Mark then asked me to look at Wilsons collar and when I did I realised what was happening. When I turned around, Mark was on one knee.

The wedding is the weekend before Christmas at St John Baptist Church in Wetherby and the reception at The Bridge Inn. I am obsessed with Christmas so we've gone for a subtle winter theme with pine cone decorations and a nice cool pastel green colour combined with rustic brown stationary. We've got mince pies and mulled wine for our drinks reception and the wedding breakfast is a good old turkey dinner. Basically it's just one big Christmas party. For the evening entertainment, instead of the same old photo-booths that every wedding has these days, we decided to mix it up and get a ping pong table instead. Our guests have no idea so hopefully they like the surprise.

Ryan Learoyd of Shutter Go Click is our photographer and we did our engagement shoot in Ilkey, both in the town centre and on the cow and calf rocks. We absolutely love Ilkley, and we always try take our dog Wilson out in the moors during the Summer when we can. Almost always followed by a meal and beer at the Cow and Calf pub. 😉 It's just such a beautiful place with amazing scenery. I love the artistic angle that Ryan goes for too, it really sits well with my hate of cheesy wedding photography.

Glastonbury of course. It's in Marks neck of the woods and it's one of those places you have to go at least once in your life.

Autumn has always been my favourite season, maybe it's the colour or the change in the air. Or perhaps it's that as wedding season winds down a little, I get to spend more time with awesome couples in some of my favourite places away from a wedding environment. I've wanted to shoot at the cow & calf for a long time & what better people to spend it with than Rachel & Mark. Special mention must go to the legend that is my wife Hannah who scaled the rocky outcrops in heels & with a Vivienne Westwood Handbag.... Rambling with style...

Big Love

Laura xxx