Redhanded Photography Blog: [engagement: Joel & Avin. Part I.]

I am so crazy excited to share this post with you. Why? Because ... it's a great love story with a happy ending ... and these two are just the most beautiful people.

I met Avin a long time ago ... like, fifteen years ago. We both worked at a summer Bible Camp together (GreenBay Bible Camp aka GBBC), and then our paths crossed again when she began attending the same church as me. She had since become active in ministry overseas ... specifically South Asia, and returned last fall to regroup and figure out what the next phase of life was going to look like for her.

Joel and I had met a while back - I'm very involved in the music department at our church, and he and I were put on the same team many times. He plays acoustic guitar, and helps vocally, and I just really liked the guy. He, too, had a heart for South Asia ... with ministry opportunities in Cambodia and Thailand. And last fall he was pretty much doing the same thing as Avin; wondering what God had for the next phase ...

Enter our pastor ... both Joel and Avin were at a missions conference and once our pastor knew these two were both single, both with the same passion for South Asia, both eager for the next step ... well. Let's just say that he pretty much pulled Avin by the wrist, making sure that she was ok with this - to which she said, "I'm thirty and single ... I'm good with this ... " - and there he was: Joel standing in the hall ...

They met. And talked for over two hours. And he was smitten. And he still waited a couple of days before calling her ... tsk tsk *grin*.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Joel had heard that I was a photographer, put it in the back of his mind, and after he popped the question (with a stunner of a ring, I might add ...), he and Avin booked a little coffee date with me ... and I was so excited to be chosen by this incredible couple.

We booked their engagement session immediately - and chose the quaint little intersection in Port Kells for the shoot ...

Their wedding planning is going fast - October is the month they chose, and that doesn't leave them a lot of time. But at least they can cross off "engagement pics" on their to-do list *grin* ...