A Winter Walk – A Real Engagement, Joanna & Andrew

Posted on: 12/12/2011

.

This morning’s Real Engagement photographs were shot by Sally Thurrell Photography at a place that is very special to my hubby and me – Hardwick Hall Hotel – the venue for my own Real Wedding in October 2010.  You can check out our professional wedding photographs by clicking here.  It even turns out that there is another connection to my wedding… read on to find out!  Spooky. 

.

Sally has given a place that I will always hold dear as the perfect Autumnal setting an atmospheric wintery spin, with woolies, a pale palette and lots of cosy snuggles to record Joanna and Andrew’s engagement.  I love. 

.

Let’s hear from Bride to Be and regular wedding blog reader Joanna:  We got engaged at home on Christmas day 2009. It was a surprise – even though I had been emailing Andy pictures of engagement rings I liked for a while!  To be honest, I had thought we would get engaged on a summer holiday to Rome earlier in the year but when it didn’t happen then I put it to the back of my mind. Anyway, on Christmas Day I was really ill and spent the day in bed, while Andy went to his parents’ house. When he came home, he was trying to get me to go for a late night walk in the snow but I kept refusing because I felt so ill. I had hair like a birds nest, no make-up on and was in my dressing gown and slippers! He made me go to the window and opened it wide, then came in to the room with two glasses of champagne. In a perfect moment, the Christmas tree lights were twinkling and it started to snow for the first time that day. Andy got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I promptly burst into tears and said yes! Not bad for a man who says he is not romantic! We are getting married in August 2012 at St Mary Magdalene Church in Yarm and the on to Judges Country House Hotel for the reception.

.

.

.

.

We met in The Cross Keys pub in Yarm when I was on a colleague’s hen night. Andy approached a friend of mine to ask if I was single. Luckily I was!  Andy rang me the very next day and we met up to go to the cinema. We definitely had a connection right from the start but unfortunately, Andy was struck down with a mystery illness and we didn’t see each other for a number of weeks after that. I thought he wasn’t interested but he kept assuring me he was just really poorly!

.

.

.

.

.

.

I don’t think there was any one specific moment that made me realise he was the one, it just felt like we were a perfect fit and had always been together. We have a very similar (weird!) sense of humour and I just felt that he ‘got’ me. He is also the only man I’ve ever met who can eat more chocolate than me!

.

.

.

.

I love Andy’s sense of humour and strength of character. He is also the voice of reason to my impulsive nature (although I have been heard, on occasion, to call him a ‘wet blanket’!).  He says: “Jo is really funny and makes me laugh. She’s really creative and always impresses me with the things she makes. I love her kindness to animals – no other woman would make me risk my life on a busy road at night to stop traffic whilst she rescued a wandering dog or write my car off to avoid running over a small mouse! And finally I love the sweet nicknames she gives me. Little things that make me love her…”

.

.

.

.

I don’t think much will change once we are married, I just think it will solidify what we have now. I hope we have a life filled with love and happiness, that we never lose the way we ‘get’ each other and that it will be what carries us through whatever life throws at us!

.

.

.

.

We chose to have an engagement shoot as neither of us are very confident in front of a camera and we felt it would help us feel more relaxed before the big day!

.

I cannot put into words how beyond happy we are with the engagement shoot. Sally put us both at ease and the photos she has taken are amazing! It was gale force winds and freezing cold on the day and you can’t even tell. I am going to put together an album of the photos and love them so much, I have shown them to pretty much everyone I know (and some I don’t!)! It has made us super excited for our wedding photographs!

.

.

.

.

.

.

I love Brides Up North and read it every day for inspiration! The real weddings and detailed posts make it a wedding planning necessity for me! Also, Andy’s dad is part of Hartlepool Male Voice choir and they are singing at our church ceremony – it was lovely to see them at your wedding, Julia. There is even a pic with Andy’s dad in it on the blog!

.

.

.

.

.

.

We would be so excited and privileged to have our wedding photos on Brides Up North!

.

Watch this space. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Congratulations Joanna & Andrew!

.

.

Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2011 Sally Thurrell Photography

This is not a sponsored post

Contact Brides Up North to submit your business as a Featured Supplier 

.

.