Cory and Amy

Our engagement shoot was actually shot by one of my bridesmaids. The very talented Mrs Carla Y, humbly accepted our request to take the photos for us. She is amazingly creative, has such an eye for detail and an uncanny knack for capturing moments of emotion. She really should go into photography! The photos we chose are a few of our favorites. It was very hard to narrow it down to this number as we had over 1000 photos taken that evening!

Our love story began a little less than one year ago. It is actually amazing that we had not met earlier through similar circles and living in such a small town. I had been alone a good while with my daughter and decided it was time to get back out there. Being a mum and never a girl for the pub scene, I decided to try e-harmony (after MUCH encouragement from my Maid Of Honor!). I was only on that site for a total of 3 hours!! Cory contacted me and after a week of emails, we decided it was time for a cuppa and a chat in person. I chose the coffee house and it really showed that I hadn’t been out for a while! We were met out the front by a ‘closed down’ sign. Luckily there was another one a half a block away that neither of us had been too so we went there. Our date was amazing! Like coming home and finding your best friend all at once. A half hour cuppa turned into a 3 hour date.

We were both smitten after that! Only 5 months later, Cory took me back to that coffee house, which wasn’t unusual – we often went there alone so I didn’t suspect a thing. When I walked in the door there was this gorgeous pastel pink vintage typewriter on the counter. I actually didn’t click straight away(I was thinking… “Man! I love that! It’s just like the one I saw and wanted online!”) and the coffee house is a funky spot with cool vintage elements floating about so it wasn’t out of place in there.

But once I saw Cory grinning and the staff not meeting my eye, the penny dropped! Cory lead me up to the typewriter and there was a letter to me typed up inside. He rolled, while I read. It was a beautiful heartfelt letter of his love for me and ended with him asking me to be his wife. Of course I said yes!! He pulled out the little box, opened it and my dream ring was inside! I’ve had a picture for years of my ‘dream ring’ and Cory somehow snuck away with it and took it to our local jeweller. He created a vintage style ring all of my own, inspired by the image. I truly love it but even more I love the thought and effort my love put into creating that piece for me.

I’m a bit of a chatter-box. I very rarely not talk but I think we sat and drank our drinks for 10 minutes in blissful silence – until Cory laughed and said this is the only time I’ve shut up since he’d known me. It still is the only time too!! Cory is so incredibly clever. He had stripped down that old typewriter and painted it pastel pink with white keys and the space-bar reads ‘Just for You’…  I just adore it! I am so lucky to have such a thoughtful man in my life. My beautiful typewriter will serve as the guest book at our wedding.

We both have a love of vintage treasures. Cory has a vintage Ford Mustang that will be used in our wedding which unfortunately was off the road during our engagement shoot. Our wedding is going to be a Vintage-Rustic-Chic wedding and 90% handmade by Cory and I. Being true to ourselves is very important. We want it to be authentic and ooze ‘US’! We are all about DIY’ing our life as much as possible and love doing projects together.

For our engagement photos, we wanted to bring through our love of vintage elements within a country setting, not only to set the theme of our wedding but because that is so us. The patchwork quilt we are sitting on was made by my mother for my 21st birthday and it is full of photos of my family. The old cameras and books were thrift finds and the old suitcase was my great grandfather’s work port. It still has ‘A.G.L. Co’ in gold on it and it is pretty special. Cory and I styled the shoot ourselves – true to DIY form!

We had a lot of fun and we love the way they turned out. They really reflect the love of our little family which was the most important thing. We used a few of these images for our DIY wedding invitations and they were a big hit! They have really helped set the tone for our big day in May 2012.

Photography by Amy’s bridesmaid Carla Y.

Ms Gingham says: I love a good love story and this one certainly does not fall short! Thanks to Amy for sharing her beautiful tale with us today. I can’t wait to see all the wedding joy soon too!

Amy says: “Hi there! I’m Ame. I’m 28, a mum to a very active pre-schooler & engaged to the most amazing man on the planet! We are tying the knot on May 5th 2012 & as we are both DIY crazy, we have decided to create 90% of the wedding ourselves (Combine that with his 2 jobs & me doing a full time Psych degree & renovating the house & it gets busy!!). We both love vintage things. Cory’s weak spot is classic Mustangs, he has one but has plans to own and restore a lot more! I love everything vintage! 40’s & 50’s fashion & make up I adore! But my vintage-love runs along side my love of crafts, sewing, scrapbooking and french provincal, country living. Roll this all up with love and poof! That will be our wedding! :)”