The tale of these two goes back many years – they’ve got lots of history, Lucas and Leah. I’m sure I don’t even know the half of it, even though I’ve heard the stories of Tulip Court and his lakeside proposal this summer! When I first met Leah earlier this year at her sister’s wedding, I had no idea that I’d be fortunate enough to work with her family capturing yet another gorgeous wedding, but I couldn’t be more excited. We got to know each other a bit back in May, and were together again when she was a model for my styled shoot back in June.
It was then that I heard all her dreams for upcoming wedding….except, she wasn’t engaged yet! But it was coming, and Leah knew it would happen soon. When I finally heard the exciting news, that Lucas had popped the question, complete with tulip-inspired ring (how I wish I had brought my macro lens to take a close-up image of her ring – it’s gorgeous!) I was over the moon when she asked me to photograph her wedding. I absolutely adored getting to know her family, and I seriously couldn’t wait to do it all over again!
When Leah asked me if I’d be willing to come to England to photograph their engagement photos since Leah would be in Exeter for study abroad and Lucas in town for a visit, I about flipped out. Not only do I love to travel and explore new places, I love to photograph beautiful lovey dovey couples in those places even more! What could be better than engagement photos in London, right!?!
We started hatching our plans, sharing ideas, coordinating locations and outfits – it was FUN! Leah had so many great ideas and was completely open to my input as well. She pulled together some outfits to fit their wintery stormy blue wedding colors, found some amazing locations, and coordinated it all so that we could do all of our shooting on one day. And it went so much better than I thought it would! I was so nervous that we’d be cursed with the notorious rainy gray London skies, but we ended up having a beautiful day! And it made for one of the most memorable fairy tale engagement sessions I’ve ever done. It was amazing!
Before I keep rambling on and on, I have to say a huge thank you to Lucas and his parents, Sandy and Mike. They flew into London just a day before this session, so I’m sure they were totally jet-lagged. His parents were gracious enough to help us around with a suitcase full of clothes and my big bag of gear – thank you!!! And to Lucas and Leah, who hadn’t seen each other for 2.5 months, thanks for doing this! I know it was a dream come true for you, but I also know you’d probably have been content to just cuddle at a cafe and talk for hours, so thanks for getting out in the (somewhat) cold and taking some once-in-a-lifetime engagement photos. I’ll never forget it, and now neither will you!
Alright, enough already! On to the photos! We started in South Kensington near the Museum of Natural History. We had plans to go inside, but it was a busy Saturday with incredibly long lines. Instead, these festive berry bushes seemed seasonally appropriate.
We stopped by this little cafe for a warm drink, and it began a trend of people congratulating them on their engagement. The Brits were so sweet to them!
The fun part about doing an all day photoshoot in a city like London is that I got to take photos anywhere and everywhere we went. I was like their own personal paparazzi – lol! I kind of love some of the shots from the Underground and taxi we took.
We took the tube over to Embankment for a few photos at a fancy hotel…
And then a quick outfit change, and photos at a nearby park. I made them walk through the pigeons, and I kind of love the result!
One of my favorite views in London!
Big Ben and the red telephone box are probably the two most iconic London sights, other than the double decker red bus. The crowds on Westminster Bridge were INSANE but we made it work!
I’ll have to edit out Lucas’s dad’s selfie-stick on the bottom left of this photo below…..oops! Lol! But kind of funny at the same time!
These two 🙂
These next two might bemy favorites from the whole day.
Since the Underground was closed to where we needed to go, we hopped in a cab…
Over to St. Paul’s Cathedral!
Snuggles are the best!
After St. Paul’s, we had a little break and an outfit change, then walked over to a different part of the city…
One of my favs.
Next, we headed to one of THE most beautiful hidden gems of London, St. Dunstant in the East. It is the most gorgeous little garden with gothic arches covered in ivy. It was like a dream
Lucas wore Leah’s dad’s bow tie 🙂
We took a break to warm up with some hot cocoa, then ended our day with a few last photos during the last little bits of light at Tower of London and Tower Bridge. It was the perfect end to the day!
Lucas & Leah – thank you for a truly memorable day! I wish we could do it all over again 🙂
Pst – you can view their stunning wedding here!
