Aura and John's River Farm Engagement Session!

It's the beginning of a busy engagement session season, so we're kicking off the blog with this gorgeous couple, Aura and John!  Aura contacted me the week after they got engaged about doing some photographs, and I had to admire her for being completely on top of the ball!  She describes herself as a type A personality who is a girlie girl, and loves clothing, shopping, decorating and Bravo TV shows (any girl who likes Bravo TV is cool in my book!).  She described John as a guys guy, who loves golf, football and music.  They're both hoping to get married in San Diego (as John lived there for quite a few years) as it fits their mutual love for amazing weather and the water.  But for the engagement photos, Aura and John wanted to stay local and wanted a gorgeous backdrop for some photos.  So I though the perfect place would be River Farm in Alexandria!River Farm is a spectacular venue.  I've shot quite a few weddings there, and I love it every time I'm there!  It's owned by the American Horticulture Society and has lush greenery and flowers in bloom at most times of the year.  Aura, John and I walked around the main garden quite a bit at first for some shots of the two of them just hanging out and looking amazing. I didn't have to give them too much direction, as John really loved being playful with Aura and made her laugh so much.  Some of my favorite shots though are of the two of them goofing off (which, yes, I encouraged) on top of a random platform in the garden (which I imagine has some type of old well underneath or something).  Anyway, always remember when you discover a random platform in a garden it's the perfect time for...dancing!  So I made them practice some dancing for their wedding which was hilarious to watch and photograph, but the photos turned out great.

Now, to incorporate more of who Aura and John are, I decided to do some shots of Aura with shopping bags (remember, she likes clothing and shopping!) and some shots of John with his golf clubs (remember, he loves golf!).  First up, Aura and John carried some shopping bags as if they had just returned from a shopping trip where Aura had made some lovely purchases.  John really committed to the part of being the hilarious boyfriend who didn't really want to carry the bags, but did it out of love for his gal anyway.  So cute!  Next up was John though, who really loved posing with his golf bag and clubs!  Aura graciously posed as his caddie and assisted him as best she could on the golf course (eh hem, lawn of the farm).  John just really shined during these shots, and I really love the series of him tossing a golf ball around and then teaching Aura how to golf.  I also brought along a croquet set for the fun couple to play along with, as the lawn at River Farm just begs for a croquet set to be a permanent fixture there.  As you can see by their croquet game faces, I wouldn't mess around with them.  In the end, Aura (with her awesome game face and mad skillz) beat John at croquet, but it wasn't a real game anyway so everyone was a winner.  Yay!  We ended our session with a few final shots of the happy couple at the house and then hanging out in some cozy rocking chairs.

Aura and John, thank you so much for letting me photograph your engagement photos!  I had a blast and I would do it again in a heartbeat!  Enjoy!