Andi and Tim's Unique Engagement Session | County Cider, Forest Walk, and Tubing for This Couple and Their Kids

When we planned Andi and Tim's engagement session, there was one thing that was on the top of our minds.

We simply wanted make sure their two children could meet me and become comfortable with me before the wedding, so that they wouldn't be stressed out being photographed on their parents’ actual wedding day.

I think that's incredibly sweet: the way Andi and Tim prioritized the children, and included them in their engagement session that day.

So we did a lot of fun things, like visit their cottage in Prince Edward County. There’s a small trail behind the cottage, and just up the hill is a nice forest. We went for a walk up there for about ten minutes.

Beautiful candid photographs don’t have to take a long time, you know.

And if you’ve heard me go on about this before - I know, I know. I sound like a broken record.

And guess what? Andi and Tim ended up using that photograph above on their wedding day. They framed it and used it as decor on their wedding reception table, along with wedding photographs of their parents! So sweet 🥰

Reception table at Andi and Tim’s wedding, showcasing one of the candid engagement photos we took together; as well as wedding photographs of their own parents’ weddings

The cottage is cosily nestled among the trees, and facing the water. I made sure to capture some of the scene and its gorgeous and colourful details - flowers, signs, and all the rest.

We then went to grab a drink at County Cider, and took a stroll through the grapevines and lines of apple trees.

Andi and Tim generously treated me to a cider, which was sooo delicious. I wish I hadn’t forgotten which flavour I tried. It was red and bubbly and perfectly refreshing on this hot August afternoon.

It was my first time at County Cider, but I loved it and definitely will come back.

I loved how family-friendly it is, and how you can sit and eat and have a drink, but you can also take a stroll away from the dining area, and then you can feel quite secluded, surrounded by apple trees. It’s quite beautiful.

Oh, and of course you can go inside the old barn for a cider tasting. Then you can purchase your favourite bottles to take home.

It’s actually the perfect couple’s activity - whether you have kids or not! What a great idea!

After that we went back to the cottage, and the kids got in the water and we all did some tubing.

And when I say we all did tubing, I obviously mean that the kids did the tubing and I was the one taking the photographs from the boat (thankfully).

I'm a little bit afraid of water. I can swim, but water sports are a bit scary, especially in deep dark waters… (I’ve recently discovered there’s a name for my condition: Thalassophobia. Look it up. It’s a real thing. It’s a persistent and intense fear of deep bodies of water such as the ocean or sea. And lake Ontario. It must be among those scary bodies of water…)

Now, if you’ve been following the blog for a while, you might wonder to yourself: Hm, you might say. Viara seems to be afraid of a lot of things that she ends up photographing anyway. Riding mountain bikes. Going into deep water. Climbing into canoes…

Well yeah. I’m not necessarily one to jump into these activities on my own accord.

But.

I do love to watch other people having a ton of fun, and these two kiddos really did have fun.

I think the best part about this day was that we were able to capture so many memories for this family in a completely organic and candid way. Because I have a suspicion that if I had been posing the kids - telling them to smile and look at the camera - it would have all gone a lot different.

I don’t really like to have my family time interrupted by photographers who tell me what to do.

And kids are no different :P

The children got comfortable with me, and very quickly realized that I'm not a threat whatsoever. In fact, I think they soon forgot that they were being photographed. And maybe they even wanted to show me some of the cool stuff that they could do.

And the great thing about combining this family activity into Andi and Tim’s ‘engagement session’ is that they get to have photographs of their family life before they were married.

Their family was already one. So not photographing them all together until after the wedding just didn’t make sense.

Let’s talk about trust in candid photography. Specifically, the trust you place in your photographer. I 100% know it has to be earned.

If I feel that somebody's not comfortable with me photographing them, I will really respect that and try to be compassionate and offer them a lot of understanding so that they can feel relaxed.

I have many strategies for making people feel relaxed. I am a good people-reader, and not all strategies work well for all folks.

Some people like to chat, and in that case, i’ll ask questions. Other folks are quieter, and in that case, I might be the chatty Kathy myself, and even make a bit of a fool out of myself, saying dumb things.

With these two kiddos, I really didn't feel a lot of stress coming from them...

Pretty much straight from the beginning they were pretty comfortable with me, because I wasn't really asking them to do anything. I didn't want them to turn towards the camera and smile, or any of that.

And I love that the parents were on board with this too.

When everybody's on board with candid photographs, you can just focus on having fun during your session.

And for any couples who do have children, either because their family is a blended one, or because they had children together and then decided to get married, I always encourage you to think about including the kids in your engagement story.

This was a simply beautiful day, picture perfect in every way.

And this is exactly what I mean when I tell couples that your engagement session can be anything you want it to be.

There are really no rules.

In fact, you're going to have a lot more fun looking back at your memories if you make sure that it's something meaningful to you, do an activity that you enjoy, and wear the clothes that you want to wear, and be comfortable.

So, if you're planning an engagement session you want to have photographed, don't make it too complicated for yourself.

Don't start by thinking – what are some beautiful locations where we can take photos?

No, it's much more simple than that.

The only question you really need to answer for yourself is:

what makes us happy, and what do we love doing right now in our lives?

After you answer those questions, the photographs can be made to happen almost anywhere and be of almost anything.

This is what documentary photography is all about.

Documentary photography at an engagement session doesn't just mean taking random candid photos of nothing meaningful going on. “Documentary engagement photography” means that we're capturing intentionally meaningful moments.

It is this intention that really sets apart documentary photography from just any old candid photographs.

And for this reason, “engagement sessions” are actually a misnomer.

Engagement sessions can be called “Day in the Life” sessions, or pre-marital bliss sessions (or even post-marital bliss sessions).

If you're in love with someone, you can take time to celebrate an activity you both love doing together and take photographs of it.

That’s it.

That is what this “engagement session” concept is really all about.

The only reason I call it an engagement session is because that is the term most familiar to people.

But I think maybe together we can start changing all of that, don't you think?

Don't you think it's time that we called it something else?

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think is a more appropriate label for these sessions of meaningful activity between people who love each other.

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