When booking flights to Maryland for Kristen’s August 9th wedding, I toyed with the idea of adding Montreal to my travel itinerary. I tend to make quick decisions and tweeted/facebooked about my Montreal availability. [I had previously photographed: Kim & Dave, The Fulton Family, Kandise & Andre, Scott & Mari in Montreal… and Melissa in Quebec City. I like shooting in Quebec.] Laura emailed me the very next day about an engagement shoot. Unfortunately, that was the same day I decided travelling in the midst of wedding season [beyond Baltimore for Kristen’s wedding] was a stupid idea. Sometimes I have stupid ideas in wedding season, completely ignorant of a thing called “rest.” Laura was disappointed but understood.

Cue hallelujah chorus! An engagement session with Laura & Ryan in beautiful Montreal worked out after all–not in August, but in [if you ask me, the even prettier] month of October. Laura is a wedding photographer, too. I’m always so honoured when photographers choose to hire me. This girl could hire anyone. But she waited for me to make my way to Montreal. I loved stalking Laura’s blog the morning of the shoot and learning a little bit about her life with “Beans.”

Turns out Beans’ real name is Ryan. And they’ve been together since their Grade 10 year. At 17, Ryan gave Laura a promise ring–a pre-engagement ring of sorts–they wanted to be together forever. Laura chose to wear her promise ring in this session–as she’ll wear engagement ring on their wedding day. At 20 years old, these smart cookies bought a home together. And before it was finished, one night, with only drywall covering the walls and cement on the floors, Laura stumbled upon their soon-to-be master bedroom. Ryan had set up a blanket and flowers and when Laura turned around in confusion, Ryan was down on one knee. Since that evening in January 2011, Laura and Ryan have been excitedly awaiting their November 2012 destination wedding.