I knew this was going to be a great shoot when Narelle chose to bring along her cowboy boots – some girls like heels, I like cowboy shoes…and cowboys! It wasn’t the best weather for wearing her boots though, it was super hot and we were near the Murrary River at Waikerie, so there wasn’t the usual sea breeze I’m accustomed to for engagement shoots!
But despite the heat, it was a gorgeous location. We walked through some scrub to find a stunning spot shining with golden light through the trees, and we were chased down by the sunset. It was beautiful, and as people who love a photoshoot, I was pleased they were enjoying this with me.
Narelle and Josh met when they were 16 – so you can imagine how racy their first date was – it involved a war over banana lollies (you either love them or you hate them!) and *gasp*, hand holding! With a romance that began so young, they kind of fell into being together forever. “I knew that I wanted to marry Josh after I worked on a youth camp with him one year. He was so compassionate and so good with the kids, it was wonderful to watch. From then on, I could always see myself building a life and family with him.”
“I knew she was the one when she bought me a port keg for my 21st birthday and got our anniversary date burned into the stand. Sure, before then I was pretty sure, but after that, it was like ‘Yep, I want to marry this girl.’ I love the dimples in her cheeks when she smiles. When she’s happy, she can’t help but walk with a little wiggle in her step, or even throw in the odd dance move when she is really happy – it makes me smile.”
“Throughout our relationship, we have always had the mindset that we would really like it to work out for us in the long rung, as you generally do in relationships!” Narelle was dropping hints left, right and centre about ‘forever’, and they were getting less subtle, and less small – then she went to America for 3 months. “I spent just about the whole of these 3 months planning different ways I could propose.” But Josh had to pick the scenario that Narelle would get suspicious about!
So off they went for a nice meal at Windy Point Restaurant, and of course Narelle suspected the proposal at that location, but it never came. “As each meal came out, I could kind of see in her eyes the expectation of seeing a lovely ring coming out – when she realised that it wasn’t going to happen, I’m pretty sure there was a little bit of disappointment there!” Josh took her home and on the way, the conversation was normal, just like any other of their nice dates. “We walked through the gate and she saw a candle on the ground. She was really confused, but I just pushed her along and then she walked around the corner where I had everything set out for the occasion.” ‘Everything’ included a photo board, a massive heart on the wall, and a beautiful ring he had designed with Bell and Brunt. He got down on one knee and did what I wish all men would do – got a photographer!! “I had a surprise photographer and after a bit of a fright from the shutter sound, she said yes!”
