Engagement

our love story. amanei & erik

Julia Smith

An engagement shoot at The Alnwick Garden (c) Julie Barron Photography  (1)

This afternoon we meet husband and wife-to-be Amanei and Erik, as they share with us their [jennaopen]love story[jennaclose] and the results of their stunning engagement shoot. The Alnwick Garden provides a beautiful backdrop for the shoot and will also be the setting for Amanei and Erik’s impending big day.

So let’s join them on a stroll around the grounds as we find out the all-important how, when and where’s.

With images by Julie Barron Photography.

An engagement shoot at The Alnwick Garden (c) Julie Barron Photography  (6)

[jennaopen]amanei says:[jennaclose] Erik proposed just before midnight on 25th October 2014. We were at the Oblix Restaurant at The Shard, during an amazing weekend away in London. As a surprise he’d also arranged for some of my family to be there the following day for a meal together to celebrate before travelling home. It was all a surprise, however as he’d had the ring since August, I knew it was on the cards!

An engagement shoot at The Alnwick Garden (c) Julie Barron Photography  (4)

We chose to set the date for 22nd November 2015 as we really wanted a winter wedding, but didn’t want it to be too close to Christmas (no Santa at our reception please).

Our ceremony is to be held at our local and gorgeous parish church and after a lot of searching we found the perfect winter reception venue, The Alnwick Garden.

An engagement shoot at The Alnwick Garden (c) Julie Barron Photography  (7)

We first met in the office at work. Erik was my (not so secret) Santa shortly after he moved to the same department I was working in (he bought me knitted slipper socks that were three sizes too big!) He is insistent however that for the first months after meeting him, I completely ignored him! After a number of ‘espresso coffee’ dates at work, our first official date was at the intimate Dacantus restaurant in Newcastle in spring last year. We still sometimes go in for a sneaky glass of wine when we’re passing Grey Street and reminisce about how perfect it was!

An engagement shoot at The Alnwick Garden (c) Julie Barron Photography  (20)

I suppose it’s true what they say, that when you meet ‘the one’ you know instantly, because that’s definitely what happened in our case – the choice is I suppose, made for you! Erik is my absolute rock and that’s why I love him so much. I know that he will support me, and our relationship, through thick and thin and whatever married life may throw at us. He’ll be an amazing husband.

Erik says that he knew from the beginning, when we first used to go for coffee together that I was that ‘one’ special person. He proposed very quickly but says that’s because he doesn’t have any doubts about us.

An engagement shoot at The Alnwick Garden (c) Julie Barron Photography  (15)

We both have our little downfalls though. No matter how often I tell Erik not to, he always feeds our Chihuahua Miles, some of his dinner, and Erik says I can be a bit of a control freak – he wishes I would just relax a little bit more.

An engagement shoot at The Alnwick Garden (c) Julie Barron Photography  (19)

Our biggest wish for married life is to have a solid, stable, supportive home and to make each other happy, that’s all we can ever wish for – anything else is a bonus!

An engagement shoot at The Alnwick Garden (c) Julie Barron Photography  (11)

Our wedding photographer Julie was recommended to us by a friend and as we had never worked with her before we took her up on the offer of an engagement shoot. We want very natural, unobtrusive and relaxed photography to capture our day and were confident that Julie was the right choice, but the engagement shoot concreted that for us. Phew!

We were definitely nervous beforehand, however Julie really put us at ease and we really enjoyed the session, but most importantly we now know that on the day we’ll feel comfortable while Julie is photographing us – which is so important.

The timing of the engagement shoot was also perfect as we’ve just moved into our beautiful new house, so we’re planning on framing some of the stunning pictures to make it feel like more of a home – it’s just a little difficult to decide on those select few, as we love so many!

An engagement shoot at The Alnwick Garden (c) Julie Barron Photography  (17)

I love Brides Up North because I find the amount of local contacts, suppliers and events featured are really useful in preparing all of those little details for the day! For us being able to contact suppliers who are local enough to meet up with and discuss ideas face to face is really important. We hope to return to share our big day on the blog.

the big picture

join the northern revolution

Would you like to see your real wedding, love story, styled shoot, forthcoming event or wedding business featured on Loved Up North? Contact Loved Up North for real wedding and features submissions or details of our sponsorship packages.

Contact us to be featured on Loved Up North

have your say

Your email is never shared. Required fields are marked *