Winter Engagement Session in Bucks County, PA: Shannon and Brandon
Winter is kind of this funny time with wedding photographers where things are slowing down, but also full steam ahead through the holidays in some ways. While many people opt for engagement photos during a lush, fall or spring season, some embrace the winter! And you know what, that means we just get to visit some cute coffee shops during or after our session for a good brew and maybe a snack. Brandon and Shannon met in early December just 1 year prior to our engagement session AND are getting married in December so they wanted to tie everything together with an engagement session in December…starting at the place where they actually had their first date in Bristol, PA.
Originally the forecast called for rain, clouds, and cold, but the rain held off during our session, and we have been having a pretty mild winter here in NJ this year. So while we had backup plans, we actually got to do everything we wanted and more!
How we started
We started out at Calm Waters Coffee Roasters (which is a great place to stop for some coffee and a snack in Bristol btw) so we could all warm up a little bit and caffeinate for the rest of our session! This shop is minimalist, but cute and cozy. It allowed us to chat a little bit before heading out around the main street in Bristol.
I got to hear more about Shannon and Brandon’s story and found out they met online, like true Gen Z’ers! All it took was one message, and one date, and they knew. Story has it - Brandon told Shannon’s mom pretty much immediately he knew he was going to marry her!
Walking between locations to switch up the scenery
The Bristol Wharf is just a short 5 minute walk down the beautiful main street. There you can find restaurants that sit on the river, and docks where boaters can tie up and explore the historic downtown! Heading out onto the docks gave us a beautiful view of the Delaware River behind us, and the waterfront in front of us.
I love when couples can be themselves, and don’t feel a ton of pressure to look a certain way. I try to approach photography from a more photojournalistic way - I may pose you, but then ask you different things to interact with each other. I want to you be able to look back at your photos and remember what you were laughing about, enjoying the time you spent together creating these snapshots. Sometimes I even find that as we are working together during an engagement session, we end up really connecting and having great conversations together! The real laughs and the real moments are what really bring the session together.
Getting a little creative
Sometimes I do silly things like stand in an open entry way to a pizza shop so I can create a multiple exposure with their Christmas lights and trees!
Picking a location
Bristol, like many small, historic towns, is really making a come back and is a nice place to walk around. There is a variety of great food places (also an awesome Indian restaurant), of course the coffee shops, and just an easy going vibe. There are quite a few corner stores that have amazing floor to ceiling glass windows and great displays (some offer great reflections as you can see above).
