Heritage Park Calgary Winter Engagement Session

I remember seeing a pumpkin carved with the words ‘MARRY ME’ online when Chris proposed to Carissa around Halloween.  I had met Carissa from James & Christie’s wedding, she was a bridesmaid.  So when their engagement announcement came up in my feed, I was thrilled for them AND impressed with this memorable engagement story.   I later found out more details about their special engagement…Chris had their entire deck filled with lit candles (how romantic) and the ring was tied to the pumpkin!!!

Not too long after their engagement, I received a message from Carissa inquiring about wedding photography.  I was excited to hear they were planning a fall SUNDAY wedding at Kenosee Lake (PS: I love non-Saturday weddings so much)!!  I was thrilled to hear this Calgary couple, who met during steak night at the Glen Ewen Bar, choose me to capture their day!

I knew our family would be making a trip to Calgary in January, so I contacted Chris & Carissa to see if we could set up an engagement session while I was there.  Timing was perfect and we met up at Heritage Park for the shoot.  We began the session wandering around ‘Gasoline Alley’, a section of the park.  The architecture of the old train station was the perfect place to begin and get to know this sweet couple.

We contemplated going into the museum part of this location and decided, sure, let’s check it out.  This playful couple posed for me among all the antique cars, trucks and vehicles…we even found a wagon from Carlyle Creamery Co….and Carlyle, SK happens to be Carissa’s hometown!!  If these coincidences weren’t enough, as we were taking photos of the couple among the vintage gas dispensers, a smartly dressed fellow working there was nice enough to come over and inquire about our photo session.  Turns out, this gentleman was Chris’s former social studies teacher from Henry Wisewood School.

Once we made this connection, the gentleman left us for a moment to see if he could get us into a top secret location of the building.  He came back shortly and brought us into the elevator which took us down to the basement where he had hand-picked a vintage car (donated by a Saskatchewan citizen) for us to use in the session.  When Chris & Carissa mentioned they were getting married in Sask, he thought it would be nice to do this for them.  We used the the car as a fun prop, what a great surprise for the session.

This session was full of so many great moments and details, including Carissa’s ring which was her Grandmothers; the couple had this gorgeous family heirloom refurbished.  This location was full of a variety of spots which allowed us to show this adventurous couple’s love in so many ways.

Chris and Carissa are terrific together and I look forward to capturing their relationship as they are married this September!