A Gastown Engagement Session - Justine and Devon

Justine and Devon's Flirty Romp Around Gastown During their Engagement Session in Downtown Vancouver // BC Wedding Photographers

Time for a switch up!  If you follow our photography, you know we shoot a lot on pebbly beaches, on island cliffs, in the great woods, and in grassy fields. It was about time we showed you what we can do in the glass jungle of Vancouver.  What a more perfect couple than Justine and Devon, who love city vibes, and will be getting married downtown this year.

We met up with Justine and Devon on a gorgeous evening, just outside of Gastown, to start their engagement session.  We wove through the neighbourhood of cobblestone streets and decorated alleys, pausing here and there to capture sweet and quiet moments of Justine and Devon together.  We finished off down by the ocean with a romantic stroll through Crab Park, with views of moonlit mountains, and the city lights twinkling like stars behind them.

Thank you for checking out our wedding photography.  If you'd like to know more about our lives in BC, or as Pebble and Pine Photography, Creative and Modern Victoria and Vancouver Island wedding photographers, you can read About Us.

Campbell Valley Park Engagement - Halyna and Jason

Halyna and Jason's Sunset Engagement Photos at Campbell Valley Park in Langley // Victoria Wedding Photographers

Some of you may remember back in January when we participated in the “It’s My Wedding” Fair.  That weekend, we gave away a pretty awesome wedding package to one lucky couple!  Halyna and Jason were the lucky bride and groom to be!

We met up with Halyna and Jason on a warm and sunny evening at Campbell Valley Park, a popular location for picnics, strolling, and horseback riding. The sunshine created such a warm glow in the long grassy fields, that it was perfect for a young and playful shoot.  One of our favourite parts of shooting is capturing those moments that happen just as a couple breaks from a “pose”, a millisecond grin, or an eruption of laughter, a little whisper as we set up for another shot.  We caught so many of those cute candid moments with Halyna and Jason that evening. We’re so excited for what we will capture on their wedding day.

Thank you for checking out our wedding photography.  If you'd like to know more about our lives in BC, or as Pebble and Pine Photography, Creative and Modern Victoria and Vancouver Island wedding photographers, you can read About Us.

Heritage Park Engagement Session - Kara and Kirby

Kara and Kirby's Romantic Engagement Photography at Heritage Park in Mission // Victoria Wedding Photographers

After meeting Kara at the Abbottsford “It’s My Wedding” show in January, we were excited to meet up with her and Kirby to do their engagement photos, and get to know them as a couple.  After learning their story, they seemed to us like a hallmark couple, and after watching them together, it was clear that they really are. Cute girl from the east coast, falls in love with a handsome boy on from the west coast? Swoon!

Having been together for 8 years, Kara and Kirby wanted their photos to really show their connection with each other; fun, natural, and intimate.  With an amazing view of Mount Baker, and lots of trails to explore, Mission Heritage Park was a perfect spot to photograph this beautiful couple together.

With warm sunny weather, and the park pretty much to ourselves, we had an amazing time with the two of them.  We wandered the trails, beat the mosquitos from each other, had Kara and Kirby dance and snuggle on top of a hill, and even had time to climb some trees.  We can’t wait to come back to Mission next summer to capture all the loveliness of their wedding.

Thank you for stopping by to check out our wedding photography. If you'd like to know more about our lives in BC, or as Pebble and Pine Photography, Creative and Modern Victoria and Vancouver Island wedding photographers, you can read About Us

Iona Beach Richmond Engagement Session - Ramiza and Aaron

Ramiza and Aaron's Sunset Engagement Photos at Iona Beach in Richmond BC // BC Wedding Photographers

We had the opportunity to connect with many great brides in January when we participated in the “It’s My Wedding Fair” in Abbotsford, and Ramiza was one of them! We were so excited when, a couple months later, we reconnected with Ramiza, and met her fiancé Aaron to discuss their wedding plans!

Ramiza and Aaron met in University, and hit it off right away. After about 2 years of dating, they began to look at engagement rings.  After seeing, and pointing out a bunch that she liked, Ramiza told Aaron that she would really love something that was unique and would remind her of him.  Aaron met up with a jewelry designer to create a custom ring for Ramiza – a green sapphire stone, the colour of his eyes, with an elegantly detailed band. It’s so stunning!

On New Years Eve day, Aaron and Ramiza went up to Squamish to go eagle watching together.  For those who don’t know, Squamish and Brackendale are amazing places to watch eagle activity during the winter months.  Ramiza describes Aaron acting quite nervous and luring her away to a more private space away from people. He bent down on one knee and called her by her full name, which he apparently does not do, and asked her if she would spend the rest of their lives together. In her excitement, Ramiza said yes, before Aaron even had a chance to show her the ring!

Thank you for stopping by to check out our wedding photography. If you'd like to know more about our lives in BC, or as Pebble and Pine Photography, Creative and Modern Victoria and Vancouver Island wedding photographers, you can read About Us

Steveston Engagement Session - Tarilyn and Joel

Tarilyn and Joel's Sunset Engagement Photos in Steveston, Richmond // Vancouver Wedding Photographers

Stepping into Steveston is like stepping on to the set of a classic movie.  It’s a nostalgic retreat for those looking for a local getaway from the hustle and bustle of greater Vancouver, and has a friendly neighbourhood atmosphere for the people who call this fishing village home.  With boardwalks galore, fishing vessels in the harbour, waterfront cafes, and views of the mountainous islands to the west, Steveston’s sunsets rival those of any expensive travel destination.  It’s no surprise that Joel picked this very place to propose to Tarilyn.

For their engagement photos, we were excited to return to the town that now has so much history and richness to the story of their lives together.  Spending the evening photographing Tarilyn and Joel felt very special. Even when we weren’t clicking the cameras, the two of them continued to kiss, and cuddle, and hold hands, and chat as if no one else was around. It felt like following a couple around during an intimate date. Seeing the loving dynamic these two have, makes us very eager to shoot their wedding next month!  Congratulations, Tarilyn and Joel!

Thank you for stopping by to check out our wedding photography. If you'd like to know more about our lives in BC, or as Pebble and Pine Photography, Creative and Modern Victoria and Vancouver Island wedding photographers, you can read About Us

Deer Lake Engagement Session - Tamara and Mike

Tamara and Mike's Sunny Spring Engagement Photos in Deer Lake Park, Burnaby // Victoria Wedding Photographers

Tamara & Mike’s engagement shoot was almost postponed due to it being pouring rain in the morning!  They were coming over from Victoria for the shoot and it wasn’t looking great but they decided to come to Vancouver anyhow since they had some errands to run here.  And boy are we glad they still came, because the weather ended up turning out fantastic in the evening, and we had a ridiculously fun time traipsing around Deer Lake with them especially when we came to a field filled with dandelions!  We braved some slugs, frogs, mushy grass, and Sayde ripped her clothes getting that beautiful shot of Tamara’s ring, but it was all worth it!  Check it out below…

Thank you for stopping by to check out our wedding photography. If you'd like to know more about our lives in BC, or as Pebble and Pine Photography, Creative and Modern Victoria and Vancouver Island wedding photographers, you can read About Us.

Engagement Session in Terra Nova Park - Jimmy and Esther

Jimmy and Esther's Sunset Engagement Photos at Terra Nova Park in Richmond, Vancouver // Vancouver Island Wedding Photographers

We were really excited to meet up with Esther and Jimmy to do their engagement photos last week.  When we met with them last year, we had planned to do their photos in late spring, when the cherry and apple blossoms were in full bloom! Well, if you live in the pacific northwest, you know that the unusual winter warmth we had meant the cherry blossoms all bloomed in February.  So, we diverted our plans to a vibrant sunset engagement shoot instead.

Esther and Jimmy told us about this amazing place in Richmond, with a farm, trails, playground, and a dyke trail that follows the shoreline and overlooks some very scenic wetlands. We had loads of fun strolling around with the two of them and enjoying the scenery. They told us originally they felt a little weird about having their photos taken (as many couples tell us in the early stages), but they were such troopers right out of the gates: climbing into the reeds, the weeds and giving each other a few fancy twirls! We even found the last blooming apple tree on the entire west coast.

Thanks so much Esther and Jimmy, we are so excited for your wedding!

Thank you for stopping by to check out our wedding photography. If you'd like to know more about our lives in BC, or as Pebble and Pine Photography, Creative and Modern Victoria and Vancouver Island wedding photographers, you can read About Us

Portland Trip and How We Got Engaged! – Our story.

So as I posted back in February, Sayde and I are engaged!  I figured it would be fun to tell you all about how it happened.  So here we go….the story behind it all, from “his” perspective, followed by “hers” right after!

I proposed! – by Matt

I had known for a while that Sayde was the girl I wanted to spend my life with.  And I say the general “a while” because there was no specific “aha!” moment…it just became apparent to me over time how awesome she is and how compatible we are.  I had no plan, no timeline in mind for asking her….just a general idea that that was something that I wanted!

Back in October last year we decided we really wanted to see Ben Howard while he was on tour.  He’s Sayde’s big-time fave, and I’m a big fan as well.  He was playing here in Vancouver but after seeing what the venue was (Thunderbird stadium), we were less than enthusiastic.  It’s just not the right place for an artist like that!  So we looked at the other tour dates, thinking maybe we’d just go see him in Seattle.  He was also playing Portland, though!  And being that I’d spent no time in Portland before, and Sayde really loves the city, it was decided….to Portland we shall go to see Ben Howard!  We’d also never been to Cannon Beach, so it was also decided that the day after the concert we would drive out to Cannon Beach and spend some time there as well.

After making all these plans, it suddenly dawned on me…..there is just not going to be a better time than this to ask Sayde to be my wife.  Portland weekend….Ben Howard concert….then heading to Cannon Beach the next day?  Pretty much perfect for this girl.  And so I began the elusive ring hunt.

I went to stores, I looked online, I basically checked out every option under the moon, and at the end of the day I could not find the perfect ring for Sayde.  It just had to be custom made. I’d decided not to go with a traditional diamond centre stone.  Sayde absolutely loves the colour teal, so I was determined to find a gemstone that could be had in a deep teal.  Eventually I found that in a London Blue Topaz, and a custom ring maker helped me pull together the design with a rose gold band with small diamonds wrapping around the sides of it.  The ring ended up looking prettttty awesome.  Here’s the computer-generated graphic of how it looked after designing it:

As the days ticked down to the weekend of our departure, I had a moment of sudden panic where I decided that the BOX the ring came in just was not sufficiently awesome for such an auspicious occasion.  It was a moderately plain black cardboard construction box, and while it had a nice pattern on it….it just wasn’t good enough!   And of course I decided this on the Thursday late morning, and I needed to have the RIGHT box in hand by about 6 o’clock when Sayde got home from work the next day.  Talk about LAST MINUTE!

I decided I was going to head down to Granville Island and try to find something handmade by a local artist.  I wandered around for a couple hours, found NOTHING!  Thoroughly disappointed, I started walking back to my car and as I walked I passed this little custom woodworking shop called The Granville Island Woodshop, where the artist specialized in these beautiful carved wood birds.  I noticed in the window that some of the birds were sold with nice wooden storage boxes, so I figured I’d pop in and ask if he had anything suitable.

Well….he didn’t.

But, he was totally on board with rush-ordering a custom made box for me, and had it done and ready by 5pm the next day!  What a guy.  And look how great it turned out:

Finally I was satisfied with my box, had the ring, and we were all set to head to Portland!

The drive down there seemed to take no time at all.  We did a detour over to Multnommah Falls as well, which was pretty awesome.

After that we continued on to Portland and checked in at the lovely and very unique Hotel Rose!

We spent the next 2 days adventuring around Portland, having donuts, seeing all the cool unique things that Portland has to offer!  What a cool city it is!

When the night of the Ben Howard concert finally arrived, we were pretty excited.  He was performing at the Roseland Theatre:

iPhone photos of course do NO justice to how awesome the concert was.  If you ever have the opportunity to see him live, don’t pass it up!

So after all that fun in Portland, we headed off the next morning to go explore Cannon Beach.  Neither of us had been there before but we both love beautiful landscapes, and Cannon beach was not a disappointment in this regard!  Sayde wanted to do some long exposure landscape photos, so we set off to find a nice spot for her to shoot from.

Little did she know, the only thing on my mind was finding the perfect spot to get down on one knee!  I knew that I wanted to photograph the proposal…typically when Sayde and I go somewhere nice, we used the tripod to get a nice photo of ourselves, so I told her I wanted to get a nice photo of us on the beach….no problemo! No suspicions aroused.

So the tough thing for me was finding a spot that was both beautiful but also not packed full of people!  Easier said than done..At one point I had what I thought was the perfect shot all framed up and ready to go, but people kept wandering in and out of the frame, and even if they weren’t going to be in the photo, they were nearby and it really wasn’t going to be a private moment with them around, which is what I wanted!   This was very confusing of course for Sayde, cause she didn’t get why I wanted it to be so private…. “Just take the photo, everyone is out of the way!”   …well, being out of the way wasn’t good enough!  I wanted a private moment..

I got so frustrated with people being there that I nearly gave up the idea of getting it on photo!  Instead, I just decided we needed to relocate the location altogether.  With that, we up and moved further away from the big rock, and up to the sandier part of the beach.  Here, I was finally able to frame up the shot I was after, discreetly slip the giant ring box into my back pocket….which was no easy feat!…check out that bump…

We then did some posing while the camera clicked away….my heart raced so fast, and I think Sayde could tell.

After a moment, I pulled back from her, and moved down onto one knee….

Everything else after that is kind of a blur!  I honestly have no idea what I said.  Sayde cried, I know that much.

But it was a success!  She said yes (I think), and now we’re engaged.  Amazing.

That was an experience I’ll never forget, and never want to forget.

He proposed! – by Sayde

In hindsight, I should have seen it all coming.  Looking back, there were incidences throughout the weekend that could have raised suspicions, but didn’t because everything we did over the weekend were things that were so typical of our relationship. Being quite introverted, we spend a lot of time as just-the-two-of-us, so a weekend away together to see a much-loved band, in a city we’ve always talked about going to, and visiting sceneries we’ve fallen in love with and talked about photographing, is just what we do. We’re sentimental people by nature (of course we are, we photograph one of the most significant events in a person’s life), and we regularly do things that have sentimental value to us. So, we decided to head to Portland, packed our bags and went – Matt decided he wanted his own suitcase for this weekend away (Behaviour #1 That Should Have Raised Suspicion). 

The whole weekend was really amazing, from the drive to Portland and wandering the city, to our restaurant explorations and the motor-bike show, as you can see from the pictures!

The day of the concert, I remember feeling nervous and excited. Ben Howard’s music tops my list for favourites, so to experience them playing live is really special. I’m very much a sensory person – visually, emotionally.  I don’t say much, but I feel a lot (which is why I love expressing myself through photography so much, and why you’ll have to excuse me for writing a blog post as excruciatingly long as this one). Matt clearly knew this concert was a big deal for me. They were also the first band that Matt and I saw together before we really started dating. This was going to be the last show of their North American tour.  And of course, they blew us away.

The day after the concert we embarked on our journey from Portland to Cannon Beach. The two hour drive is scenic to say the least. Matt drove, letting me take it all in.  The single lane highway through the hilly Oregon cedar forests is scarred every dozen kilometres by stark patches of clear-cutting, and speckled with small farms along the way.  As you reach the coast, the monolithic rock formations that mark Cannon Beach make you feel like you’ve stepped in another realm.  They jut up and out of the water like the dorsal fins of giant golem sea creatures. They are domineering and colossal, while the town perched on the water’s edge is quaint and pastel. An odd, but inviting contrast.  

I had seen this famous beach in photos before, and imagined arriving to greet it with the fog and faded lighting that gives the islands an ethereal appeal.  I had always pictured being there in isolation, taking moody and dramatic long exposure shots. It was not to be that type of day. It was a balmy 18 degrees Celsius (yes, really, in February) and a national holiday for the US.  There were thousands of people enjoying the beach, and not a cloud in sight, let alone fog!  It was incredible to see.  We made our way down the beach towards one of the smaller island formations which had less of a crowd, to take some photos with less people, and to fill a jar for Matt’s souvenir sand collection.

We were 500 metres from the car when Matt realized he had forgotten his empty jar in the vehicle and wanted to go back for it. I suggested that we could get it later as we passed back by the car on our way back to the other side of the beach. He said, no and that he wanted it with him right now (Behaviour #2 That Should Have Raised Suspicion), so ran back to retrieve it.

With the weather the way it was, and at the time of day we visited, I quickly determined it would not be the kind of day for doing long exposure shots at the beach.  Instead, I whipped my shoes off, rolled up my pant legs, and decided it was just going to be a day to enjoy.

As the tide rolled out, the water level crept lower down the rock formations, exposing millions of mussels, thousands of barnacles, hundreds of anemones, and dozens of starfish in every imaginable colour.

Matt’s efforts to find a suitable spot to take our photo together seemed to frustrate him, but he played it cool and casual. He’d line up a shot but then hoards of people would flood in to explore the area. Even when people weren’t in the frame of the photo, he said he felt weird with them around while we took a photo of ourselves with a tripod (Behaviour #3 That Should Have Raised Suspicion). Eventually we moved to an isolated spot away from the water, but still with one of the rock formations visible in the background.

The tripod was set, the timer was ready, and we were finally going to have a shot of us at Cannon Beach.  Matt ran into the photo with me and we smiled for the camera as it clicked a few times.  Matt grabbed me by the waist, kissed me, and said I love you.  It was at the exact moment I realized the camera hadn’t stopped clicking, that one of Matt’s hands started to shake, and his other hand reached behind his back.

Suddenly, instead of looking up into Matt’s light blue eyes, I was staring down into the rich blue gem he was holding up in the wooden box he had just opened.

I became very aware of how I was aware of nothing else.  I know Matt was speaking, but I remember little of it.  I no longer heard the sound of the camera shutter clicking, or the waves crashing. I couldn’t feel the wind on my skin, or the goosebumps that rippled across me.  The people on the beach, and the seagulls in the sky ceased to exist.  All I could see was Matt, and all I could hear was the voice in my head shouting, “Holy crap, oh my god, is this real? Is this real, oh my god, holy crap!”

I don’t know how long I stood there stunned and saying nothing, with my hands clasped over my mouth.  It was long enough for Matt to have to ask, “Are you saying yes to me?”   Yes, yes of course I was.  After slipping the ring on my finger, we revelled in the moment, smiles ridiculously large. Matt filled up his little jar with the sand we had been standing on when he proposed, and I stood there dazed, looking at this ring that he had clearly picked just for me, with its rich, but transparent blue-green gem, the colour of the sky just after sunset and right before dark, and tiny diamonds lining the rose gold setting and band, like stars sparkling away.

The drive home to Vancouver was long, but felt like floating.  Matt told me all about how he had the ring custom made, since he knew I wasn’t stuffy over the tradition of diamonds, how much teal always grabs my attention, and how he wanted something extra special. He told me about his experience with the last-minute box maker, and all his sneaky plans from start to finish.

The cherry on the cake was when he told me about his tricks from just earlier that morning.  While I packed my bags in the Portland hotel that morning, Matt told me he was going to get us coffee for our drive to the beach.  Upon returning with coffee, he slinked out into the hallway to “use the good wifi” (Behaviour #4 and #5 That Should Have Raised Suspicion). He was actually calling and speaking with my dad to ask for his permission.  I was so happy when I learned that my dad knew all about the events that were transpiring, and how special it must have been for him to be in on the secret.  When I called home to surprise my Mom with the news, my Dad answered the phone with an audible grin that filled my heart up with light.  They were as over-the-moon as me, and it was very detectable that my family loves Matt as much as I do.

I’m still flabbergasted about how he managed to pull it all off without raising suspicion, and maintaining his calm cool demeanour the whole trip. Holy, what a weekend. And what a life we’ll make together.

Vancouver Carnival Engagement Photos - Tanya and John

Tanya and John's Candid and Fun Engagement Photos at a Fair in Vancouver // Vancouver Island Wedding Photographers

When we met up with Tanya and John to talk about their wedding, we were excited right away! They were sitting in a coffee shop, just beaming with energy and enthusiasm. They told us all about their goofy and competitive relationship and insisted that they were not a posey, intimate, lovey-dovey couple. When it came to an engagement session, they wanted something to reflect the silliness they cherished in their relationship. We were ecstatic about the idea and decide, “let’s all go to a carnival!”

For a couple who says they are not lovey-dovey, the bond between Tanya and John was very apparent by the shining grins on their faces, and the squeals of excitement as they played games, ate cotton candy and whirling around on the rides (to Tanya’s protest).  Check out all the fun we had below!

Thank you for stopping by to check out our wedding photography. If you'd like to know more about our lives in BC, or as Pebble and Pine Photography, Creative and Modern Victoria and Vancouver Island wedding photographers, you can read About Us

Keshia & Craig’s Sunset engagement at Whytecliff Park

Keshia and Craig drove all the way from Fort Langley for their engagement session out at Whytecliff Park, in West Vancouver.  We had actually scheduled the photoshoot for the day before, but the day was cloudy and as it entered the evening it didn’t appear to be clearing up so we ended up postponing it.  Of course, as chance would have it, the clouds that evening broke up and it ended up being a beautiful sunset!  By then it was too late to get out there and shoot, so we just hoped that it would be just as nice the next evening.  Luck was on our side and it turned out to be another beautiful day!  We met out at the park and managed to avoid the hordes of people that were there in order to get some great shots celebrating their love.  Looking forward to shooting their wedding later this year!

It was such a beautiful evening, loving how the photos of these two came out.  For more of my work please visit our facebook page!

Jericho Beach Sunset Engagement with Philip & Crystal

Philip & Crystal booked us to photograph their wedding after attending Mike and Lindsey‘s wedding, which we photographed a little while back.  We're looking forward to shooting their wedding as well in a couple months, but in the meantime check out the photos from their engagement session at Jericho Beach!  We went down on a very sunny day and shot close to sunset…got some beautiful light which made for some great images.  Stay tuned for more posts to come as well!

Lighthouse Park Engagement Session - Grace and Matt

Grace and Matt Explore Lighthouse Park During Their Engagement Photos // BC Wedding Photographers

I had a lot of fun with Matt & Grace at their engagement session in Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver.  This was actually my first time shooting there so it was a bit of a treat to see a unique part of Vancouver that I had never been to, despite it being one of the most popular areas in the city for photography!  It was a bit more of a hike than we anticipated, but Grace was a trooper even though she was wearing boots with a fairly tall heel!  Matt and Grace were naturals in front of the camera and their love really shone through. They have a ton of fun together and smile non-stop.  Enjoy!

Surprise Proposal & Winter Engagement Session - Kyle and Maryflor

Kyle Surprises Maryflor with a Custom Emerald Engagement Ring Proposal and An Impromptu Engagement Session Follows // BC Proposal Photographers

About a month ago my good friend Kyle called me up with an awesome idea for his engagement shoot that there was no way I could turn down.  I’ve known Kyle since I was in grade 6 – and for any of you that know how old I am and care to do the math…..that is a longggg time!  It was actually the photographer at Kyle’s brother’s wedding, named Andras Schram, who had a large influence on me deciding to pursue photography as a career! I’d never seen wedding photography like that before, and I was intrigued.

Anyhow, I’m getting off track here! Kyle called me up to tell me that he was planning to propose to Maryflor, his girlfriend of ELEVEN years.  They’ve known each other for even longer than that though – since highschool!  So the twist to Kyle’s phone-call, was that he didn’t just want some engagement photos – he wanted the proposal itself photographed! Needless to say, I was stoked about that idea.

Kyle and Mary live in Calgary, so we came up with a plan where I was going to pretend to be in town for another reason, and ask them if they wanted to do a little ‘couples shoot’ for fun while I was there. Mary took the bait, and the plan was on!

We started off the photoshoot as if everything was just as Mary thought…

Up until this point, Mary still had no idea that anything was out of the ordinary.  Kyle and I had scouted out the location for where the actual proposal was going to happen the day before, so when we got to this spot, I made the suggestion that I do a few individual portraits.  This gave Kyle the opportunity to go and get the ring, which we had hidden in my camera bag.  He came back, I suggested we do some more photos together in this spot, and the proposal commenced.  Enjoy the slideshow!

Thank you for stopping by to check out our wedding photography. If you'd like to know more about our lives in BC, or as Pebble and Pine Photography, Creative and Modern Victoria and Vancouver Island wedding photographers, you can read About Us.