Westminster Pond Fall engagement session
I was so excited when I had the inquiry from Amy (and Karl) that she had remembered me from her sisters wedding, I remembered her because she is a fellow Fanson! At Amy and Karl’s Westminster Pond Fall engagement session we had beautiful golden light and even a bit of a sunset at the end where we did a silly awkward photo. They incorporated their love of film cameras, retro games, their cat and love of each other of course! I can’t wait for their big day today!
- Once upon a time, Amy and Karl were both fourth year students at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. They went on a pub crawl that went to four different venues; starting on campus, then a bar, then a pub, then back on campus to the university bar. Each participant was given a pub crawl t-shirt and a sharpie so that they could not only sign each others shirts, but also check off the “mandatory shots” list on the back. While at a bar called Chainsaw (which COVID killed. RIP), Amy saw Karl sitting at a booth beside a girl. She noticed how cute he was and waited several agonizing minutes for that other girl to get up and leave. When the seat was available, she took her chance and sat beside Karl, introducing herself. They chatted for a little bit and signed each others pub crawl t-shirts (both of which they still have to this very day) and went about their night. At the pub, they met again and started chatting some more. This led to them walking together to the campus bar where they spent the rest of the night eating spin dip, mozza sticks, and having drinks. They exchanged Facebook details (as millennials do) and the rest was history.
- Amy: “That guy is super cute and I want to talk to him. But who is that hussy sitting beside him? Go away. I want this one.” Karl: I wanted to make sure I wasn’t too awkward all night, but I thought “This girl is nice and I want to get to know her more.”
- CONTEXT: We had been talking about getting engaged for a while and Karl had promised me that after I was done my (third) post secondary program that he would propose. After I was done, we looked at engagement rings, we talked about who we’d invite, and I anxiously awaited and wondered at each outing if this was going to be the day. After a chaotic summer of having to move unexpectedly, and helping Karl’s Oma to move into her new senior centre, I finally thought it was just around the corner. Then on Thanksgiving weekend in October, my grandma passed away which put a slowdown on the whole thing as I was really devastated about it. He ended up having to “thread the needle” (proposed the day after grandmas memorial service in December- the last day we would see my sister Katie and her family before they headed off to the Bahamas for Christmas so that we could celebrate the good news together-, the weekend before Karl’s Opa’s 1 year anniversary of his death family dinner, and avoiding a cliche Christmas proposal). ACTUAL STORY: After a rough previous day at the funeral for my grandma with family I hadn’t seen in a million years asking “How long have you guys been together? So when are you two getting married?”, Karl and I woke up and decided we were going to do one of our favourite activities in my hometown; drive down to the beach and sit by lake Erie together. When we got there, we found a picnic bench and sat down. There was nobody else around (granted this was the first weekend of December so it was pretty chilly!). I kept joking about this one bird that was landing on the lake that I had lovingly named Heathcliff, and we (although according to Karl mainly just me) kept quoting Bob’s Burger’s lines to each other while Karl silently and patiently waited for me to stop so he could find the right moment. Then, Karl said that the last several weeks/months/years have been super crazy but he’s glad we were together for it all, and would I want to go through even more crazy years with him for the rest of our lives. I cried. He pulled the ring out and asked if I’d marry him. I said yes and put on the ring that we had been looking at together months before that I’d fallen in love with. We hugged and smooched and laughed and cried. Then, a lady walked by behind us and I yelled “WE JUST GOT ENGAGED!” She awkwardly congratulated us, paused and said, “Wait. Just now?” and I said “Yeah, like just a couple minutes ago.” She got super excited and came over to congratulate us. She took some pictures for us and introduced herself (Nicolette; I’m not going to forget her name) and introduced us to her small, fluffy, geriatric dog who was jumping all over Karl. Karl knew that I would want to share the news with my family, and we knew that Katie would be leaving my parents house soon to drive back to London, so I called my Mom to ask if she was still there. My mom said, “The kids are loaded in the car. I think Katie is just going to the bathroom.” I told my mom that she had to stall them; I couldn’t say why but she had to make sure they didn’t leave before we got back and we were on our way. We quickly (but safely) drove back to my parents house where I met Katie outside and told her that Karl was now my ex-boyfriend. She looked sad and confused, I showed her the ring, and she screamed and hugged me. I walked up to the front door and said the same thing to my Mom (who got the joke right away) and gave us hugs. We then went over to my Aunts house for a funeral-leftovers-lunch with immediate family where we shared the news. In spite of the difficult circumstances of the weekend, I was able to tell that whole side of the family -including my aunt, uncle, and cousins from Texas- in person all at the same time.
- Both: Moving in together in 2018 and starting our lives TOGETHER (with our cat, Agnes Gertrude). Amy: The first birthday of mine that we spent together; Karl planned the whole day. He built me a “Ministry of Silly Walks” clock where the arms of the clocks are John Cleese’s legs (It’s from Monty Python) for my gift. We went to Waterloo park and had a picnic (a baguette with deli meats, and my favourite wine at the time which was a Peach Moscato…. I’m not really a wine drinker). We fed some small bits of the leftover bread to the ducks at the park pond, blissfully unaware that you’re not supposed to do that. We went back to his place for a SCHEDULED NAP (be still my heart). When we woke up, we went to the pub where we had our third date (the date during which we had our first kiss) for dinner, went back to his place and watched my all-time favourite movie, Muppet Treasure Island. It was the perfect day. Karl: It wasn’t my favourite memory but it was a powerful memory. Amy had a seizure at work and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. I went to the hospital where an ambulance attendant met me in the atrium (her name was Ainslie, and the other attendant was Nicole. Amy has a thing with remembering important people’s names). Amy had described me as a tall bearded man with glasses and the attendant said I was the only confused and worried looking man there who met that description. The most powerful moment was the relief I felt when I saw Amy for the first time in the hospital and saw that she was okay.
- Amy: I love how thoughtful he is. He is always doing things to show how much he cares; flowers or treats from our favourite bakeries just because, remembering small details of things I’d mentioned years ago, taking care of me when I’m not well and knowing exactly what I need without asking. He is also so thoughtful and caring towards his family and friends. He is so sweet with his grandma who has MS and he takes extra good care of her. My entire family love him and are so happy to welcome him into the family which also means a lot to me. We also share a sense of humour and silliness that makes everyday fun. Karl: Amy is one of the most kind and caring people I know. I love how funny and weird she is, qualities that she has brought out of me over the years we have been together. There is a running joke/observation that extroverts tend to adopt the introverts they meet in their lives. That is definitely the case for this introvert, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love that whenever and wherever I am with Amy, it always feels like Home because she is there with me.
- In terms of vibes from the day, we would love it if everyone just had a really nice time. Nothing too stressful, nothing too wild and crazy, nobody bored but nobody getting black out and belligerent. In an ideal world we would love for people to leave the wedding saying “Wow. That was really nice!”. In terms of seeing the photos, we would love to have a coffee table book and have the really important people who were there to sign it on or near a specific photo of them akin to a yearbook (i.e.. the maid of honour by a picture with Amy or a big group shot of the bridal party, Karl’s Mom and Dad by a picture with them and Karl, etc.).
- Our housing situation is up in the air right now so there isn’t a definitive spot for a big print that we have pictured in our heads. In an ideal future home, having an 8×10 portrait of us on a wall or shelf in a living room with a collection of 4×6/5×7 in their own frames in both the living room (on the wall or shelves) and in the bedroom on a dresser. We would also love to have a coffee table book of all the photos that tell the story of the day.
- You did the photography for my sister Katies’ wedding and all her subsequent family photos. We’ve gotten to see your work since basically 2017 and are really happy with the quality of photos and memories you capture.
- Not completely decided but between Dusty Sage and Eucalyptus from David’s Bridal for Bridesmaids, and not sure for groomsmen.
