A Sunset Clifftop Proposal on Vancouver Island // Victoria Wedding Photographers

One of our favourite things to do is capture the moment of a proposal! Schaeffer contacted us about his plans to travel to Vancouver Island from Wisconsin with his girlfriend Alexis, hoping to propose to her at a beautiful waterfront location at their Airbnb just outside Sooke. We had an awesome time coordinating with him the best spot for him to get down on one knee! Hiding discreetly nearby in the woods, we were able to capture the big moment where he popped the question. Following her emphatic YES, we revealed that we were photographing it, and we continued with a few impromptu portraits just before the sun set. Congrats to you both, it was such a beautiful evening to get engaged!

East Sooke Park Engagement Photography // Ariel and Mike

Ariel and Mike explore Iron Mine Bay during their vacation in Sooke // Victoria Wedding Photographers

Most of you know how much we've loved our little life in Sooke, since moving last year.  We love exploring the trails, the water, and getting to know the people in our new community, and playing tour guide for our friends and family when they visit.  We get super excited to meet people who are just visiting Sooke to explore, especially when Sooke was their main destination (not just a side trip they took while in beautiful Victoria :p).  Ariel and Mike are two of those people, coming all the way from Ontario to take in the glory of Sooke's coast line, wildlife, and forest.

Being recently engaged, we loved how they decided to do their engagement photos here, while they were on holiday!  How special is that!?! As you know, Sayde is from Ontario herself, and as you can probably imagine, when Ontarians meet on the west coast or anywhere in travel, there is a LOT of chatter to behold.  And chatter away we did.  It was great to spend two awesome hours chatting, photographing and exploring the trails (and going off trail into the ocean of ferns), beach, and islet at Iron Mine Bay in East Sooke. 

Thanks Ariel and Mike for visiting Sooke, and for having us there to document a small part of it!  Hope you enjoyed the last of your trip and come back again soon!

East Sooke Park Engagement Photos with Lindsey and Brent (and Willow!)

Lindsey, Brent, and Willow romp around the fields, cliffs, and beach at Aylard Farms in East Sooke Park during their engagement photos // Victoria Wedding Photographers

East Sooke park is the first place the two of us visited that made us fall in love with, and eventually move to Sooke.  After talking to Brent and Lindsey about their upcoming Church and State wedding, we got to talking about all the areas they really love around here.  We weren't surprised in the least when Lindsay and Brent told us that East Sooke was one of their favourite places, and that they'd love to do their engagement session there, near Aylard Farms.  It also happened to be a first-hike-together place for them, as Lindsey puts it: her and Willow, her dog, were going for a hike date together, and invited Brent along. They hit it off, evidently!!

The day of the engagement session came and we all romped around the park talking about their upcoming Church and State Winery wedding, summer and travel plans, and laughing at all Willows silly antics.  Lindsey and Brent finished off the evening with some good old stick-toss into the ocean for Willow, and stuck around long enough to catch a couple curious seals swim by. 

Thanks to Lindsey and Brent for hiking around the park for us during your engagement session, we had loads of fun! We're excited about your wedding!!

Mystic Beach Engagement Photos with Kristi and Kyle (and Chase!)

Kristi and Kyle hike through the rainforest for their sunset engagement session at Mystic Beach

// Vancouver Island Wedding Photographers

We met Kristi and Kyle, along with their wedding planner Anouk, about a month ago to talk about their Oak Bay Beach Hotel wedding.  They told us about their life in Victoria, their wedding plans, and showed us pictures of their cute little dog, Chase.   We found them so endearing, especially the way they'd look in each other's eyes and immediately smile every time we asked them questions about their everyday life, and their relationship.  We are always drawn to couples who have a strong connection to each other that way.  When they told us that they had considered a place like Mystic Beach for their engagement photos, we almost fell out of our seats.  

Mystic Beach is one of our (one of most people's) favourite places to visit, and we've been dying to go there with a couple.  Within 10 minutes of weaving through the moss and fern coated forest, Kristi and Kyle's shoes were covered in thick mud, and Chase's tiny white paws were painted black.  To which, Kristi laughed and said, "Well, we're committed now! It'll totally be worth it!"  And she was so right.  Appropriately named, Mystic Beach makes most people feel as though they've stepped out of the forest and into a dream.  It often overwhelms people with a kaleidoscope of feelings which is why it's such a great place to photograph people there.  We had so much fun photographing Kristi and Kyle as they explored the beach, the waterfall, and ran around the beach with Chase, who was clearing feeling energized after being liberated from his leash! We finished off with a gorgeous hazy sunset by the waterfall, followed by our slow and tedious hike back to the cars through the pitch black forest.

Thanks, Kristi and Kyle, for being so adventurous and taking on this crazy excursion with us, for your engagement session.  Thank you for letting us try out some creative photo techniques with our lighting, and panorama style too!  We just couldn't wait to show you these images, and we totally hope they are worth the sore ankles and backs!  We're sooo looking forward to your wedding in September.

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