* Fair warning there are a lot of photos. You may want to look at from your desktop, because it might take a while on a phone. We hope you enjoy them.*

We decided to have some fun with our engagement photos, and since Jessica is a photographer we did our own shoot. It was fun, a bit crazy, sometimes challenging, we both felt a bit glamorous, and Jack learned more about photography in the process.

1. Gather images from the 1920's to 1930's. Study the lighting, poses, expressions, clothing, hair, and makeup. 

2. Shop. Locate a brown herringbone suit and vest for Jack, with a paisley tie, and a gold chain to tuck into his vest. Include his new two tone, wingtip, oxford shoes that we picked out for his wedding suit. 

3. Get a long gown and vintage jewelry for Jessica. Try to find shoes that represent a bit of the 1930's.

4. Jack cuts his hair. This is a BIG deal! He has had the same style of hair since the mid 70's, and we're both in complete shock still that he did it! He also cut off most of his facial hair until he shaped the perfect pencil mustache.

5. Discuss the location. We decided on the Columbia Gorge Hotel in Oregon. It is a 6 hour drive from where we live in Idaho. We went there on a whim a couple years ago in 2013. We were tired from driving from a trip to the OR coast, pulled in, got a room, and had a fantastic time! It was beautiful, authentic feeling, and the food was amazing. (We ate the same meal that we had back in 2013. Only this time we had much better service. Our server was incredibly friendly to talk with. The wine and food was as good as it was back then too.)  It was hands down the "it" location for us to go back and make another memory. Last time we were there we took photographs starting at midnight and up to a few hours into the morning, so we decided to do that again, since the hotel was a full house for Memorial weekend this year. We did take some during the next day though. 
 
6. Include some images at  Jessica's new in home studio. 


*Click on image to view.

Just a few getting ready shots.

Some photos of Columbia Gorge taken from our first trip back in  September 2013. It is a special memory for us, and we had so much fun running around this old hotel and taking photos. We pulled in, tired, and wanting to rest, but we ended up staying awake until 4 in the morning. Then we got up early, after only a couple hours sleep and went back at it shooting during the day. We did a handful of shots trying to get a "ghostly" feel to the images. Plus, there is a really cool shot I took of a comet over the hotel that night!

Thank you for visiting our new site, and viewing all these photos. They are special to us, and really hope you love them. We are so excited to finally be engaged. Please stay tuned for upcoming blogs, and when we reveal where we are getting married! ;) Feel free to share the blog/site/ comment below. P.S. if you want to do a fun theme shoot/couple shoot contact Jessica over at her photography website.