{ENGAGEMENT} Catherine and Graeme

This is the story of love that was always meant to be, but only in God's perfect timing.

Catherine and Graeme first met eleven years ago when Graeme's father became the senior pastor of the church that Catherine and her family attended. It was over lunch at the local Pizza Delight when Graeme first began to crush on the beautiful brunette sitting across from him. His teenage heart was captured but Catherine only saw him as a friend. This, however, did not prevent the infatuated Graeme from carving into a tree GP + CP inside a heart while their youth group was enjoying a hike along Third Vault Falls the following summer!

Fast forward ten years, and with a very timely chivalrous move Graeme captured the heart of the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with if he had the chance. Catherine writes "Last summer, just before we got together, I was with a bunch of kids and we were going out for supper. I was all dressed up with no jacket, no sweater, no umbrella and is was pouring outside. And we were walking. All of a sudden Graeme came up and put his shirt over my head and I just looked up at him. I knew then [that he was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with]." When the time was perfect, Graeme took Catherine back to the falls and near the spot where he once tagged a tree with their initials, Graeme proposed to Catherine while sitting in a mud puddle. "It was beautiful and perfect," writes Catherine.

Photographing Catherine and Graeme during this very engaging time in their lives was nothing less than incredible. They are both so warm, loving and infectiously joy-filled, and so incredibly in love with each other; they are the reason I love working with couples and photographing love stories. One of the things that both Catherine and Graeme love about each other is how they feel in the arms of their beloved; for them, a hug is a powerful stress-reliever, and safe place to be; it is an act of love that calms the storms and re-energizes the weary. Their embraces, set against dreamy evening light and the beauty of the Irving Nature Park in Saint John, filled their engagement photos with so much emotion and beauty that some of these photos have taken my breath away. That they can look each other in the eyes without turning away is indicative of the trust and confidence one has for the other when choosing to commit his or her life in marriage.

Catherine and Graeme, I cannot wait to photograph your wedding this December. If your engagement session is any indication of the joy to be expressed that day, then I will be making sure to pack an extra amount of Kleenex in my lens bag because I will be teary along with all your family and friends who are eager to celebrate and shed tears of joy. I think it's safe to say that God began to write your love story that day elven years ago while you became friends over pizza. Through the years a friendship grew and then love blossomed. And it was all in His perfect timing. I am always amazed, though I shouldn't be, how good things come to those who wait. He is always faithful and always kind.

Bless you both as you prepare for marriage and the wonderful and crazy adventures that await you!!