Engagement Photos

This weekend started with an engagement photo shoot with our photographer, Sara at Photographs by Sara.  I’ve never worked with a professional photographer taking picture of me before…other than school photos where you stand in line and turn on the charm for 10 seconds.  But we spent 2 hours with Sara on Saturday morning.  Time flew by, but it was an exhilarating  first-time experience for me! 


My initial ideas for the shoot:
-outdoor location (wheat field, tractor, etc)
- Props: fiesta party flags, chalkboard frames, boots, cowboy hats, bouquet of some sort
- photos: smiling, laughing, serious, prayerful, intimateboot shot, hat shot, walking shot


After a few back and forth e-mails with Sara we decided to shoot at the Dallas Arboretum, a flower garden in the heart of historic Dallas TX that I’ve never visited before.

We decided to meet as soon as the garden opened at 9am.  Unfortunately I forgot what month it was.  9am in July is like 3pm in July: HOT!  It probably didn’t help that the Arboretum is next to White Rock Lake.  The humidity from the lake was adding to the humidity among the plants. 

I wasn’t able to find any fiesta flags in west Texas, I’m confident Party City in Dallas has them, but we were short on time in the morning.  We drove in from west Texas and arrived in Dallas at 2am.  I’m really hoping we don’t look too exhausted in our photos because we woke up at 7am…giving us a full 5 hours of sleep!  Yikes!

I did DIY some chalkboard frames that I really liked.  We both wore our boots throughout the entire shoot.  Chuy wore his cowboy hat for a lot of the shoot which was nice for him because it blocked the sun from his eyes!  I never put on my hat, I was worried it would mess up my hair (vain, I know).  So I kinda regret not wearing it for at least a few shots. 

The Arboretum is a beautiful location with TONS of unique photo locations. 


We took the following:

- standing in green field with lake behind us
-sitting near a waterfall
- next to a giant picture frame
- on a staircase
- in a lush private garden
- sitting in an open field
- under a canopy of crepe myrtle trees

I can’t wait to see the photos!  I’m so worried I’ll look fat in them…anyone have a good arm exercise?  I’m so strong and thick in my arms, I need to thin them out.

I’ll post pictures as soon as I get them!!


Living Life to the Fullest and taking pictures along the way
-Rachel