Ingrid and Curtis Engaged

Calgary Wedding and Engagement Photographer

Downtown Calgary Engagement Session

Alforno Bakery & Café and Prince’s Island Park

When I first met with Ingrid and Curtis to discuss their wedding plans, they told me they were going to get married at their church and have their reception at the Calgary Zoo. Then we talked about the never ending possibilities of places where we could make a pit stop on the way to the zoo to take bridal portraits. Of course we are going to take some at the zoo, but we loved the idea of having a little bit of variety. So I was mentioning some of my favourite downtown Calgary locations for photos when Prince’s Island came up. They were really excited about it and told me that they actually had that one in mind for something else. They wanted to go there for their engagement photos because that was where they had their “perfect” first date!

So we met up there for their engagement photos and I told them to just walk in and order up, just like they did on their first date. There was just one big difference; they now know each other really well and the connection that they’ve had from day one has now grown into love and partnership. It was actually really sweet at first, the feeling of reenacting a first date! But this was no first date, and you can clearly tell by these photos.

Here’s a little bit more about the two of them, in their own words.

We went back to the place where you had your first date for your engagement photos. How amazing was your first date and how did it feel to revisit those places as an engaged couple?

“Our first date was just perfect. We met at Alforno Bakery & Café for a coffee and a walk. From the minute we officially met in the doorway of the café, it was smooth sailing. We grabbed a coffee to go, and then walked all around Prince’s Island Park, chatting the entire time. When we finished walking, we sat down on a bench on the river and talked for almost two more hours. Then we went back to Alforno and neither one of us wanted to leave, so we had another coffee! We sat down inside and kept talking until it had been over four hours…my best and last first date.

This was the first time we’ve been able to go back since then, so it was so fun to revisit everything! There was such a sense of familiarity, and for me it was fun to think about how I was feeling the last time I was there, not even knowing what was going to happen, and then to think about where we are now. Curtis says because he knows me now, it kind of changes his memory of the first date, in the most wonderful way.”

How did he propose?

The day that Curtis proposed, I had no idea that it was going to happen. We were going away for the weekend, so we were driving along the TransCanada highway. Curtis said he needed to go to the restroom, so we pulled over at a rest area with a beautiful view point of the river and mountains. I was headed back to the truck when he kind of steered me over to the view point and started stretching. I thought he was just delaying getting back in the truck, so I started stretching as well (I literally had my leg up on the rock wall haha). It turns out he was just waiting for some people to pass us. Curtis had been working on a special project, so he asked me if I wanted to see it – I said yes, and he pulled a wood box he had made. I said “wow!” (I initially thought it was a wood puzzle so I still had no clue what was happening). Then all of a sudden, he took the top off the box, revealing a ring, and was down on one knee asking me to marry him.”