Engagement Pictures

Last week, Eric and I took engagement photos and it was so much fun!  We sort of took a different spin on the traditional. When we met with Chris Mullins, the photographer, he mentioned he could photograph us anywhere, even at home on my couch.  Well, my apartment isn't quite that photo worthy but I had the idea to take an inflatable couch around the city to some of our favorite places.  It was so much fun!

We started out on the Country Club Plaza with the couch in tow.  Eric and I spent a lot of time at the beginning of our relationship there. It is about the same distance from both of us so it was the perfect place to meet up. We would walk around, window shop, sit in our cars on colder nights listening to music and just talking.  One rainy night, a bicycle patrol person knocked on the window and asked what we were doing.  Just talking.  He told us to move along, but seeing as it was late and had begun raining, we stayed a while longer.  We always stay out a little (okay, maybe a lot) too late.

 On the stairs next to McCormick and Schmick's we took pictures with "Marco"/"Polo" signs.  When it's been a while since we've heard from each other, we'll sometimes text "Marco" and wait for the next person to reply "Polo."  We stood apart and got closer and ended with a "You're It!" sign between us both.  It was cheesy but it's special to us. Some women leaving the restaurant stopped to ask what we were doing, so of course I told them the whole story. They thought it was sweet.

From there, we went onto Loose Park which is where Eric and I officially became a couple and were engaged - so extra special!  We were trekking around looking for the tree we were sitting in when we had Cupcake a la Mode and our DTR (Define The Relationship) talk and when we finally came across it, Chris says, "Oh, I should have known it would be this tree!"  I've seen a lot of people with pictures in this tree because it's perfect for sitting in with it's low hanging branch and somewhat secluded spot.  We took more traditional pictures here and they turned out amazing!

After that, we took the couch over to the pond, which is where Eric proposed.  I insisted Eric bring his guitar, since he sang to me that day, so he could play.  We sang Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol while Chris snapped more awesome photos. Having people walking by the couch makes the situation seem so...ironic.  Couches are private things usually, but here we were surrounded by people.

Next, it was on to Liberty Memorial (Chris was awesome and willing to go with us to so many spots.  Totally appreciate it!) which was another stop on the Great Engagement Race.  One night, Eric took me to Liberty Memorial to walk around.  He was racing to the top but I was taking my time because I'd never been there before and it was a gorgeous that night.  The stars were beautiful, the air was clear and downtown looked amazing.  I convinced him it was better to slow down and take things in.  Now we have an incredible photo of Eric and I randomly sitting on a couch with the Kansas City skyline in the background and it's so cool!

On our way to the top of the Liberty Memorial I saw some people sitting on a blanket with a telescope pointed at the sun.  I remembered Eric telling me that Venus was going to be in transit (which I now know means crossing the sun).  Apparently, this will never happen again in our lifetime so while we were starting to unload I ran across and asked if that's what they were watching.  They said yes so I called Eric over. The man held up a box and you could see this bright circle with a black dot across it.  So on our once in a lifetime day, we got to experience another once in a lifetime event.  How awesome is that?

Our final stop was The Flying Saucer, one of Eric and my favorite places to go to relax and hang out.  We set the couch up on the corner across the street.  It was so fun because people kept passing by and commenting about the couch on the corner.  There was one person who tried to tell us that a company actually owned the sidewalks and after several minutes (which took longer than what it would have taken us to finish the photos) he said it would be okay if we finished up our session.

After that we couldn't pass up the opportunity to pop into The Flying Saucer since it's such a great way to end the day.  We even ended up staying a little later and meeting up with friends for trivia night.

It was a fantastic day!  We had so much fun and the pictures were amazing!  Make sure to visit Chris' Blog - chrismullinsphoto.com to see a few extra pictures.  And while you're there, check out the rest of his stuff!  You won't regret it. If you're in the KC area and looking for a photographer - check him out!

My advice for engagement pictures - make them fun.  If you want the traditional shots, that's great!  But this is your chance to have fun and take pictures that are all about you.  Make them personal and have fun.  What do you enjoy to do together?  Can you take pictures where you first realized you were in love?  Do it!  You won't regret it.