Morning my loves! I’m not sure what it is about Katherine Ashdown, but she has all the cutest couples!  I’m pretty sure it has a lot to do with her approach, to Kathy each couple is a new friend and not just another client {she even has a Facebook page for her brides to get to know her & each other – how sweet is that?!} Chantal & Chris are just too cute, I love their sweet engagement shoot.  The tandem bike, pretty details and their darling pooch Molly all make for such an adorable session!

Here’s their story ~

Chris and I met at the gym. Yes, he was a fitness instructor and I was, all of a sudden, a very keen gym go-er! I remember noticing him and then around Valentines Day I lost my grand-dad, who I loved dearly.  Chris approached me, one day, having seen I was sad and down; he said he wished he could cook me a meal and look after me, and after that it was only a matter of time before we had our first date, and then fell in love.

We were in Scotland, it was Christmas day and we were staying at his Mum’s house in Burghead.  In the morning he got up earlier than me (very normal!) and when I finally got all ready for Christmas day and I asked if we could take our Jack Russell, Molly, for a walk on the beach before lunch, just the three of us.  I got all wrapped up in mix-match coats, hat, scarves and wellies, ruining my lovely look for Christmas, but I hadn’t appreciated what was about to happen.  As we walked toward the beach, Chris tried to show me the sand near the boat ramp, but it was so windy as there had been a freak change in the weather, that we didn’t walk down the ramp.  He then said “I wanted to show you something I had written in the sand”  I asked whether he had written ‘I love you’.  He said “no, I had written, will you marry me?”    I burst into tears and spluttered out Yes! I was overcome with emotion, literally the happiest moment of my life.   Chris said the nicest things to me during that moment, about what I meant to him and how he wanted to share his life with me.  I will never forget that day.

Chris’s 30th Birthday was 3 days later on the 28th December, and unbeknown to him, I had been planning (since the summer!) to fly him to New York for his birthday and New Years Eve as a surprise.  I managed to get him blindfolded to Gatwick, completely unaware of what was about to happen, thinking perhaps it was a trip to London.  As I took his headphones out (yes all senses were blocked for full effect) I placed a NY guide in his hands and told him just how much he meant to me and about how I wanted to share my life with him forever, hoping that this showed him just how much, just like his proposal had shown me.  Under the Christmas fairy lights on the platform at Gatwick I told him where we were going,! He was shocked and a little teary – with delight! With the news of our engagement, the surprise 30th birthday trip and a friend who flies for BA, the Captain upgraded us to Business Class…….Trip of a lifetime, newly engaged couple, happiest time of our lives!

Right from the outset we were aware that we did not want a big wedding, having to spread ourselves thinly around guests which are not involved in our lives in the present day and who probably wouldn’t have a big impact on our married life going forward just did not seem right.  So we wrote a guest list of our nearest and dearest, some of the people on the list were hugely influential in supporting Chris and I in our relationship and making us the couple who we are today, and we knew it meant a lot to those people to share in our day.

For the best part of a year I’ve sought out cuts of material, jugs, jars and other paraphernalia which will ultimately form all the “detail” of the wedding day.  Together we’ve had weekends of “art and craft”, making jam-jar glasses with hessian, lace and sewing on buttons.  My sister has made bunting and lavender filled hearts which will double up as pew decorations and favours for the girls, we’ve made teeny tiny pots of sweet chilli jam for the boys.

Sounds pretty right? Well, I’ve had a sneak peek & can assure you it is!  I’ll be sharing their gorgeous day in a couple of weeks – not long to wait!!