I first met Taylor and Royce at the Winnipeg Dog Park meet ups! We always had great chats and a lot of fun! When they reached out about an engagement shoot, knowing they would be including their pup Morris, I was SO stoked and honoured to be a part of this season of their life!! We loved the idea of a beach session, and Birds Hill Park was one of their first date spots – of course we had to choose it. I love locations that truly hold meaning for my couples and this one was pretty special.

I had been keeping an eye on the weather for a week leading up to our day and I was so worried it was going to rain! We decided to risk it, despite the thunder storm forecast, and it was worth it. We got this beautiful moody blue sky, classic in these Manitoba prairies.

We started with just walking about, checking out our space (politely shooing away the few stragglers at the beach!), and chatting about their 2024 wedding. Covid made wedding planning so much crazier and high stress than normal, so Taylor and Royce decided to keep it chill and extend their engagement a year to make sure they could have the wedding day they dreamed of.

You know that feeling when you’re on a date? When you’re feeling close to your person, having fun, and just relaxing into the moment? That’s the kind of feeling we had that night. I don’t think i’ve laughed more during a session than with these two! I’m all about making our time together just like a date night, with me as a third wheel capturing it all. It’s not just a photoshoot – there’s no posing with fake smiles in different places.

Morris easily could have stolen the show, he is such a sweet dude and you could just see how much he loved his humans! Pro Tip: if you’re bringing your pup to your session bring along a friend or Bark Wedding Date to keep them company during photos where they’re not included. Our doggos are such a big part of our lives, but sometimes its nice to have a few moments and photos without them!

Taylor and Royce had met at the restaurant where they both worked 3 years ago, and have been together ever since. They added Morris to the equation, and he popped the question at the Christmas lights in Assiniboine Park this past winter! They are the definition of an extroverted couple – and are so open and loving with each other. They made my job easy; I could just tell how in love they are and happy to be celebrating their engagement!

ALWAYS recommend bringing along some adult bevvies to your session, and Taylor and Royce did not disappoint! We thought it would be fun to check out other parts of the beach so we headed over to the other side for our champagne picnic.

I asked them if they were comfy with heading into the water, just for a little bit! This was late May so the water wasn’t THAT warm but definitely created a mood.

One thing I love most about engagement sessions is that they are 110% authentic to you. Whatever you love to do together, how you spend your time, your little relationship quirks – so much of that comes through in our session. I always leave extra space for couples to come up with their own ideas or time where they are free to be themselves.

We left our water walking to the end but Taylor and Royce had told me they were up for some creative stuff at the end, leaving it completely up to me and whatever my vision was! Okay let me tell you, we had so much fun. Royce had tons of creative input, I loved it, and it was a totally zero pressure part of the session where we just created and built off each others ideas.

When I asked them what they wanted their session to feel like Taylor and Royce responded with “I want us to just have a ton of fun! We want to have adventure and variety and look back and remember that we didn’t say no to trying something new” – I think we nailed it 😉