Nothing like a lump of coal for Christmas!

This past Christmas Doug proposed to Melanie and they claimed to have a friendly wager on who would get the more perfect gift. Doug opened up a beautiful new watch and I imagine Melanie felt pretty confident about giving the most perfect gift. Doug knew the box he had waiting for Melanie was going to be the clincher. It was a very LARGE box, but also very light.

For the record women would generally agree that light boxes are good because light things are usually expensive. Being a male I would think the opposite is true. We like heavy boxes!

Melanie tore open the BIG, but light box, which only lead to a smaller one and so on. Finally when she got to the last one she unwrapped it to find blue a Birks box. She was probably a little confused when she opened it revealing a rock of the wrong variety. It was a black rock or as Doug explained to her, a lump of coal. They laughed when he explained this and at the same time he slide down to one knee and asked her if she knew that he loved her more than anything else in the world. He explained that he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Melanie nodded, shed some tears and got closer as Doug was holding a silver bell. He opened it up revealing an engagement ring.

Safe to say Melanie was happy to admit she received the perfect gift.

Doug and Melanie booked me to shoot their 2012 wedding this past spring. During their trip out from Alberta we had the chance to meet up and get warmed up with an engagement session.

I know I have said it before, but I really value these opportunities to get to know the couple before setting out to take their pictures on a very busy, but fun wedding day. Engagement sessions are a relaxed time for the couple to get comfortable with me and the way I work. It always makes the wedding day a breeze and most of all gives the couple some pretty cool images aside from their wedding photos.

We had a great night. The rain held off and after braving the cool evening air for 2 hours we warmed up with some Starbucks. Actually Melanie and Doug warmed up. For some reason I don’t like hot drinks so even when I am cold I order a cold drink. I warmed up with a iced passion tea lemonade!

Above: This is my favourite image from the day. I think Melanie’s awesome blue dress really made the photo work. Thanks Melanie!

What is your favourite image ? Please feel free to leave me a comment… I welcome the feedback and my couples love it too!