Love in the stacks: a literary engagement shoot with two cute brides-to-be

This beautiful pair of ladies both work for a big city public library system so a literature-themed engagement session was on the agenda. They added even more meaning to it by finding the perfect book store to match their intentions. Let's hear from bride-to-be Amara on how she and her partner Ginny decided where and how to rock a bookish engagement session (all while juggling a photographer swap and the hurdles of planning a wedding as plus size, queer people!)…

Ginny and I met in the Summer of 2014 and both work for the same library system. When we got engaged, I knew I wanted to do engagement photos. Since we both work at the library and love books, we thought it would be cute to do a literary-themed shoot. Ginny is half-Métis and we live on the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations. So we reached out to Massy Books, an Indigenous owned bookstore in Vancouver, and asked if we could rent the space after hours for our photos. It was important to us to support a local and Indigenous run bookstore, and we were thrilled when they said yes! Our original photographer had a family emergency and was no longer able to do our shoot, but they referred us to Shauna Danielle at Shauna Danielle Photography, who was kind enough to be our new photographer on short notice.

We were both a little nervous going into the shoot, but we had a wonderful time. Our photographer was fun and flexible, and it was nice to dress up and get our pictures taken. We brought books of our own that are really important to us to use in our photos. Ginny and I made each other laugh the whole way through and had fun with it. We wanted something low-key and reflective of who we are, and that's exactly what we got.

Being a queer couple and plus size women, we have definitely come across a few things that have made wedding planning a little hard. Dress shopping was a panic-inducing affair, and finding things that aren't catered specifically to a bride and groom is an annoyance. However, our families have been supportive and we are so excited to spend the rest of our lives together. I want to be able to show off my wife-to-be and show my love for her. I want people to see how much we love each other.

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About the Author: Catherine Clark

@enidjcoleslaw @bijouxandbits @bijouxandbits

Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com.