Wedding Wednesday: Engagement Sessions Part 3- Props for Thought

After talking about why engagement photos are important and what to wear for them, which you can read about here and here, the final installment of this Wedding Wednesday Engagement series answers the third biggest question I get asked about engagements: Should we bring any sort of prop? 

The answer: There is no right or wrong answer. I’ve had couples who bring lots of props, and couples who bring no props at all, and every session has been just as great! The key, however, is that if you’re going to use props, make sure you have a REASON to use them.

Props can be great because they give you something to do with your hands, they can add interest or action to the photos, and honestly props can be just plain fun. They can be anything from a bicycle, to celebratory champagne or wine, to an old polaroid, to a picnic basket and blanket, and anything in between. The sky is the limit! That being said, if you bring a prop just to have a prop, it can seem awkward and out of place. I believe it’s important to have some sort of connection between what you’ve brought rather than just having a prop for props sake. For instance, if the two of you never ride together, then it doesn’t really make sense to take pictures of you and your on bikes. However, if you both own beach cruisers and love riding together, those will make excellent props! Basically, props can be great… as long as they’re not forced. Here are some examples of props I loved from a few of my couples!

Colleen is super crafty and doing a lot of DIY projects for their wedding. She wanted to have her and Mark’s wedding date incorporated into the pictures, so she handmade this adorable banner! Loved it.

We went way up into the mountains for Alex and Andy’s engagement photos, so Alex brought a blanket along because it gets pretty chilly so high into the mountains. Very practical as well as super cute and cozy!

Liz and Charlie are quite the wine connoisseurs. They even had homemade wine at their wedding! So it only seemed fitting that they celebrate their engagement with a couple glasses.

So there you have it. Hopefully this series answers all your questions about Engagement Sessions! But if not, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email :) Happy planning!!

Chris Manning - February 6, 2013 - 11:19 am

I love the banner! Great idea!

The Super Bowl Summary and Chocolate Fondue

The Super Bowl is over, and the results are in! The Ravens came away victorious, Psy cracked some pistachios, the Showgirls won the coke, a clydesdale touched the hearts of millionssome elderly folks got a little craze, and Beyonce danced so hard the power went. Did I miss anything? Oh yeah, like 8,000,000 lbs. of chicken wings were consumed. Not by me though. Nope, I stuck to the chips and guac. Though I might have splurged on a funfetti cupcake. Because really, if the Super Bowl isn’t a good excuse to eat a funfetti cupcake, I don’t know what is.

But now that the Super Bowl is behind us, it’s time to get excited for the next big event… VALENTINE’S DAY!!!! (Pretty sure that just caused half of you to get really excited, and half of you to groan audibly. For the latter, I apologize. For the former, YAY!!) It’s no secret that I am unapologetically a hopeless romantic. Anything remotely sappy and I immediately get all gooey and misty-eyed. So yeah, red roses, giant teddy bears, heart-shaped boxes with filled with dark chocolates, and a day devoted to celebrating love? Never gets old in my book.

Which leads to me believe it’s time for another little giveaway! How about $30 to The Melting Pot!! Fondue, anyone?! (I’m referring to chocolate fondue, although I suppose if you just really love cheese, you could get some cheese fondue instead! Haha.) To enter, simply leave a comment telling me what your favorite Super Bowl commercial was! You know, just in case I missed any good ones ;) Then I will randomly pick from all the commenters and announce the winner next Monday! Just in time for your Valentine’s Day dessert :) Ready…. GO! 

Whitney - February 4, 2013 - 11:21 am

The Dodge commercial about the farmers. I loved all the photos and secretly wish I lived on a farm.

Krystal Boxell - February 4, 2013 - 12:09 pm

The best commercial was definitely the Dodge, God made Farmers! :)

Courtney Howell - February 4, 2013 - 12:11 pm

The Dodge commercial about farmers!!!!

Lauren - February 4, 2013 - 12:14 pm

M&M’s was one of my faves!

Emily - February 4, 2013 - 7:10 pm

My favorite was the Budweiser one with the horse. Yep. Cried. :)

Ally - February 4, 2013 - 7:55 pm

I loved the Clydesdales, as always (:

jacqui - February 4, 2013 - 8:59 pm

Since I’m a horse lover of course it was the Budweiser Clydesdale commercial. I was so anxious I even watched it early on YouTube

Angela Lopez - February 7, 2013 - 12:08 pm

I liked the one with Amy Poehler for Best Buy. She’s so funny! Thought it was a fun commercial :)

The Thur - February 7, 2013 - 12:23 pm

It seemed oddly perfect to me, that a man considers selling his soul for a car, made by the company that has their name on the stadium, where the lights go out during the Super Bowl! Mercedes-Benz!
Is your stuff really all that’s important, America?

Mallory Calhoun - February 7, 2013 - 12:24 pm

My favorite was the Goat 4 Sale Doritos commercial. It was hilarious!

Nicole - February 7, 2013 - 12:55 pm

Definitely the Calvin Klein one haha :). And the tide one was pretty funny.

Kacie Hanna - February 7, 2013 - 1:02 pm

Loved the dodge commercial. Growing up in a farming community you saw how hard they work. I loved the m&m commercial as well. Made me laugh

Alli Thurin - February 7, 2013 - 2:12 pm

All of the ones you mentioned were great, but I loved seeing the baby wolf puppy!! I want one (but I can’t remember what the commercial wad for, haha)!

Megan - February 7, 2013 - 2:45 pm

I loved the Clydesdale horse one too!

Marybeth - February 7, 2013 - 4:04 pm

The Budweiser Clydesdale one was my favorite! Followed up by the ram truck Farmer commercial!

Alex Moricca - February 7, 2013 - 4:51 pm

I liked the old people partying it up, for the Taco Bell commercial. So funny!

Amy Bradford - February 7, 2013 - 6:39 pm

The Doritos one where the little girl wanted her dad to stay and play with her. Then all his friends came over to play dress up. :)

Jason Zeiler - February 8, 2013 - 2:41 pm

The Cars.com commercial with the little wolf puppy, it was kind of quirky funny, along with the fact that the puppy was so adorable!

Ashley - February 9, 2013 - 9:04 am

My favorite was the Goat in the Doritos commercial. It was a crack up!

A Place to Call Home

After two years of searching, countless walk-throughs, a few unsuccessful offers, many a sleepless night, and loads of prayer, we finally found it… Our home!!

We’d been renting since we got married. Which isn’t a bad thing, don’t get me wrong. But we were ready to own. And while we loved the two houses we lived in and we were grateful that we could wait until we found the right one to buy, it was hard to be patient. Still, we waited. And hunted. And researched. And hunted some more. Until we found it. This home.

And now, even though I’ve been dying to share since the day accepted our offer, I can officially say it: We are home owners!! Sure, moving during the dead of winter in Park City was a little brutal. And being without internet for a week (yes, SEVEN DAYS) wreaked havoc on my social media upkeep. But thanks to a ton of help from our families, we are finally all moved in. And I can hardly believe God has blessed us with this awesome house. With this place to call home.

My dad came to drop off a snowblower over the weekend while we were busy moving, and I ran out with my camera to have him snap a photo, so that we could remember this crazy move forever :)

Talia - February 1, 2013 - 1:05 pm

Congratulations!!!!! It’s beautiful! And looks spacious! :) hugs!

Christine - February 1, 2013 - 1:44 pm

Looks lovely! More pics please! :)

Celia - February 1, 2013 - 5:12 pm

Beautiful – so happy for you both!!

Bali Part 2: Monkey Forest and Para Luhur Temple

One of my favorite parts about Bali was all of the colors. From the clothes to the food to the art to the flowers (especially the flowers), it’s a world full of color. We got to see breathtaking views of a temple on the cliffs of the ocean, Balinese painters creating gorgeous works of art, and monkeys so close you could touch them. Or feed them bananas. But they were feisty little guys… If you weren’t careful, they’d steal your glasses! And yes, a few more photos of food and orange juice. Because it was THAT good.

roomie - January 24, 2013 - 6:02 am

These photos are so beautiful Carissa!! :) I’m so proud of you.

Heidi Auringer - January 24, 2013 - 1:11 pm

SO pretty – love how you capture colors :)

Bali Part 1: Bambu Indah

A few photos from the first couple days while we stayed at the wonderful Bambu Indah Resort. Amazing foliage, best orange juice and curry I’ve ever tasted, rope swing over a natural pond, and friendly local smiles…

Rob - January 22, 2013 - 11:08 am

These are beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

Linda Benson - January 23, 2013 - 4:46 pm

Thanks for sharing Carissa! The pictures are incredible!