Engagement Photos

So I have been holding off sharing the photos from our engagement shoot (taken way back in June) because I used a few of them on the Save the Dates and I didn't want to ruin the affect of people seeing them for the first time. But, I have been taking my sweet time getting the Save the Dates addressed and out the door, and I couldn't wait any longer! I am still dying to share them on Facebook though, but I will restrain and vow to get the Save the Dates finished this weekend!!

Anyway, we decided to use the extremely talented Ann Coen as our photographer for the wedding and part of the package she offers includes an engagement photo shoot. Ann is a local Long Beach Island photographer, so it couldn't have been more convenient for us. It helps that she knows the area so well and has shot just about everywhere there is there. Plus, our good friend Kyle, who shot our proposal, now works with Ann. We shot up on the beach on our street in Surf City.

Now, I'm not sure how many of you have had engagement photos taken, but I must say, it was awkward! And that is saying a lot given the fact that I LOVE being in front of a camera. I already knew that it would be a challenge for my fiance, since he does not love being in front of a camera, but I didn't realize how silly I would feel. It is very hard having all of the attention focused on your "coupleness."  We are also not the PDA-type of couple to begin with. It is hard to act natural when a perfect stranger is asking you to kiss and hold hands and be lovey dovey.

It also didn't help that is was just barely raining. We decided to go ahead with the shoot anyway since we were only up in Jersey for a few more days, but my hair — which looked awesome before we left the house —looked like Bob Marley's dreads once we were up on the misty beach.

But all that being said, Ann was awesome to work with. She is so laid back and just went with the flow, which I think set us more at ease. She even laughed along at us with us when I misunderstood a pose she was trying to get us in and accidentally straddled my fiance in a not-so-save-for-family-viewing kind of way.

All in all, I think it was great practice for the wedding. We all got to know each other a bit better and my fiance and I can work on our picture posing skills for the next eight months. I love Ann's style of photography and can't wait to take photos on our wedding day!

So without further ado, here are some of my favorites:

So what do you think? Do we look as awkward as we felt? How did your engagement shoot go? I just ordered a bunch of these to frame around the house and everytime I was looking through them to pick out my favorites,  I was thinking "damn, my fiance is hot!" Haha! Can't wait to marry this man!