Engagement photos Wortley village
I am excited to photograph Raven and Cael’s big day tomorrow! Check out their spring engagement session we photographed last year- half at the magnolia trees and half at their house and we also took Engagement photos wortley village.
- We met online via OKCupid. The dating site lets you narrow down the kinds of people you want to meet and what kinds of relationships you’re interested in. Cael had just moved from Windsor to Kitchener for their PhD program and was looking more for friends and other queer people in the area; they had only been on the site a short time before matching with Raven. Raven had been unsuccessful in looking for potential matches in London and so extended their search radius, which made it so they were able to connect with Cael who hadn’t thought about narrowing their search radius despite looking more for people within the KW area. Out of everyone who had commented on Cael’s profile, Raven was pretty much the only one to acknowledge Cael being nonbinary and their hobbies, which instantly made Cael curious despite the long distance aspect. They matched and connected through messages briefly before Raven went on a trip to Montreal, which led Raven to miss the message notification and ghost Cael for two weeks. Despite this initial hiccup, the two have been basically attached at the hip since.
- They agreed to meet at Cael’s apartment in KW a couple weeks after reconnecting online. Upon opening the door, Raven said “Cael?” and Cael immediately thought that they could get used to hearing Raven say their name. Cael also thought that Raven’s online photos did not do them justice. Raven thought Cael was cute and was definitely the kind of person they wanted to at least be friends with.
- Raven and Cael had booked a summer trip to Toronto (secretly on Raven’s part to propose, since they had asked all their friends if now was the right time, having been with Cael for 2 and a half years). Raven hadn’t bought an official ring but did buy a nice necklace and a cheap ring from walmart as a stand in for an actual ring they would buy together later. The two went on a trip to the ROM, perhaps foolishly deciding to walk in the summer heat from the hotel that was a 20-30 minute walk away. Raven hid the necklace box in their belt, under their shirt, certain it would show, but managed to keep it hidden all day through the museum. The ring was safely hidden in their pocket. In the dinosaur fossil exhibit there was a (perhaps camp) group of kids loudly milling about, and despite attempts to find a secluded corner to propose in, Raven thought it best to wait a bit more. Taking a seat in the fossil exhibit, Raven got the necklace box out from their belt. Cael couldn’t figure out how Raven managed to not only conceal it while packing the bags, but the whole morning until that point. Then a fire alarm went off. Raven’s thought was “oh no oh no this is not going well now isn’t the time I can’t do this here, not like this.” So the two finished the museum tour and took a moment to sit quietly in Queen’s park across from the museum. The weather was sunny with scattered clouds, the temperature comfortable under the shade of the trees. They took a seat at a metal bench with pretty much no one around. It was quiet and peaceful, giving Cael a chance to ground themself after the over stimulation of the museum. Raven said something to the effect of “would you spend the rest of your life with me?” and Cael didn’t seem to connect two and two, thinking “oh this is a nice little ring thank you.” Raven clarified, “would you marry me?” And Cael, after a moment of processing, said “yes, of course.” Cael was not expecting a proposal despite the two of them talking abstractly about marriage in the past; while Cael had expressed their willingness to marry Raven in those discussions, Raven had not been quite ready to make the commitment since this was their first serious and long-term relationship.
- Cael – On our first date, we were on a carousel at Canada’s Wonderland. Raven leaned back on their horse to look at me and said that they were proud to be with me. Raven – On our first date, we were on a big rickety wooden roller coaster and we held hands all through the ride. I remember laughing most of the way through the ride, not because of the excitement of being on the roller coaster, but because of the excitement of being with someone. And at the end I asked “can I kiss you?” And Cael said yes. We have a lot of good memories of things we’ve done together as well as terrifying ones, like the time we got caught driving on the 401 from Vaughn during a rain storm at night.
- Cael – I love that Raven cares. Not just about me, but about the cats, their hobbies, other people, local communities. They sometimes struggle to express that care, but they are always trying to do better, which I also love. I haven’t had the best experiences with romantic partners, but being with Raven has felt like experiencing things for the first time again. Raven – I love that they’re patient with me and very kind. They have very good friends that they love and who love them back. They have strong principles and are determined and dedicated, perhaps to a fault because they don’t take enough breaks or always treat themselves kindly.
- Raven hopes friends and family see it as two nerds expressing their love, having a good time with everyone there to see it. Hopefully not too many people are distracted trying to take their own pictures. (Cael: we will ensure they don’t) Cael hopes they see the wedding as simply a celebration of the couple’s love for and commitment to each other rather than anything more traditional/stereotypical. It’s not ‘the old ball and chain’ but a contract solidifying and formalizing what has always been a part of their relationship to each other.
- We have some space in the living room and stairwell for pictures of us and our friends. But we’re also hesitant to put holes in the walls even though we own the home (Cael is particularly hesitant due to having rented for so long).
- We were going through Weddingwire and liked your photo examples on there to represent Erin’s work. We were definitely looking for someone who’s open to doing photos of two nonbinary people, so it meant a lot to us that she not only mentioned working with queer couples in the past but also showcased that in her photo examples. We did not hesitate to book a consultation appointment and the decision upon meeting Erin was easy. The hard part was telling the other photographer we had messaged that we had found someone else.
- Purple, green, blue, red, with some black and white. The best man’s kilt is yellow, black, and white. So jewel tones?
- Shared: Tabletop role playing games, final fantasy series video games, cats, sweet toothed, synthwavey music, writing Cael: Ice cream, books (especially Discworld novels and fantasy overall), singing, philosophy, open, pedantic (but endearingly so). Raven: Sci-fi, healthcare, pasta, gummy candy, long-winded jokes that take a lot of time/setup, collector of trivia(l) facts.
