Today we are sharing with you Laura and Kyle’s Belle Isle Snowy Engagement session that we just got here in Richmond at Belle Isle.  (Head to our instagram to see some behind the scenes from this shoot!) 

It’s the first real work we have done this year. We are back. And it feels good.

So we headed to Belle Isle. They wanted somewhere in Richmond that was waterfront. And so we suggested Belle Isle to them. Kyle came and was like “wait this is Belle Isle”? We were all getting Brown’s Island and Belle Isle confused.

I mean they’re in the same proximity. You park in the same parking lot to get to either.

RVA – Belle Isle Snowy Engagement

It was a journey getting there.

It had just snowed and then frozen over. And on the day of the shoot everything was melting. So it was icy and wet but we did have some snow. It was a balance of walking carefully and trying to stay dry.

The whole day leading up to their engagement shoot you were just like it needs to stay cold enough that this all doesn’t melt but hopefully will be warm enough that we aren’t freezing during the session.

We did decide to push it a little earlier in the day which ended up being a great decision. When we finished it started getting really cold with the wind. If we hadn’t pushed the session I don’t know how long we would have made it.

Laura was such a trooper. Her first outfit was a dress! Thankfully she had the cutest coat ever that she wore with it.

Thankfully we found a few spots that still looked snowy and were icy. But it was kind of like it was raining the entire time with everything melting.

But they were troopers and so much fun.

I love that Laura brought a change of shoes to wear while we were walking around. We tell people to do that but not everybody listens.  Especially important for a spot like Belle Isle, but also during icy and snow.

Still a wonderful session!

My favorite thing to hear at an engagement session

I would say that my very favorite thing that people say to us throughout that entire wedding experience is that when at the end of the engagement session they turn to us and say that was actually a lot of fun. So often people are really uncomfortable before we start shooting and think that it is going to be miserable to have their pictures taken for two hours. So at the end when they tell us that they actually had a good time it’s so nice to hear.

It’s my favorite thing to hear.

I did half the session at Belle Isle. Belle Isle is great because there are spots that are right next to the water and the other spots that look like you were in a completely different location. I think my favorite location throughout the shoot was the field with the snow.

I feel like our flaw with engagement sessions is that we often spend too long in the first outfit. We start shooting and we get so excited that an hour goes by without us even realizing it.

Belle Isle is a little different because there is a long walk to get there and you have to go across the big bridge.  Then all of the sudden it had been an hour and we didn’t even realize it.

Snowy T-Pott Bridge in RVA

So we went back over the bridge and let them change and then we headed to the T-Pott bridge which is always a fun location.

The very best moment was that we were on the T-Pott alone! How many times have we been to that bridge for a Richmond engagement session? And how many times has that bridge been empty? Never!

Anyways.. it was fantastic able to visit these locations that we shoot out all of the time but it being so different because of the environment of snow and ice and overcast skies.

They were so well dressed for a winter shoot.

Enjoy a few of our many favorites from Laura and Kyle’s Belle Isle Snowy Engagement session.

 

 

Laura + Kyle are getting married this fall at the John Marshall here in Richmond.

Enjoyed this?  Take a look at some other Belle Isle Engagement Shoots:

Annie + Zack

Grayson + Dillon