https://www.marieskerlphoto.com » Marie Skerl Photography

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    Hey friends! I'm Marie :) A photographer and storyteller specializing in engagements, weddings and portraits. I'm passionate about living every day to the fullest, having fun and capturing real, beautiful moments you will cherish forever. Currently residing in Vancouver, BC.

    Learn more about me here, check out my pricing here and contact me 104,101,114,101ereh! Can't wait to meet you <3

    Photo by Danielle Dobson

I have been looking forward to posting this engagement session for such a long time. I’m going to introduce you to this amazing couple and their story before I type anything else. Kim and Steve went to the same high school and met through Kim’s best friend. They were friends for about 6 years before they started dating 🙂

When I asked “tell me something unique about yourselves” this is how Kim replied: “Steve is extremely mechanically gifted and can literally fix or build anything. I am a cancer survivor, I beat the same cancer that Terry Fox had after I went through 6 rounds of chemotherapy and chose to have my leg amputated in order to save my life. I do motivational public speaking at elementary and high schools advocating for cancer research and awareness and it is my absolute passion.” WOW, so incredible right?

“What do you love most about your fiancé?” was my next question. Kim said: “I love that Steve has the most giant heart, he always gives people the benefit of the doubt and is very trusting.” Steve said: “I love that Kim is so passionate about helping others.”

Now, for the proposal story! Kim’s version: “My family has been doing a family vacation to Penticton every summer my whole life and for the last 3 years Steve has come with me. This past summer we rented a room at the lakeshore resort so we could use its close marina to store our boat. Steve and I were in our boat in the hotel marina getting life jackets etc ready for my family to meet us for a boat ride… He pulled me onto his lap and was telling me how much he loved me and how much I meant to him, then he picked me up, sat me down and got on one knee, pulled the ring out of his swim shorts pocket and asked me to marry him! My family came yelling happily out with flowers and champagne 🙂 They were in on it!!!”

This is Kim and Steve and a photo of them right after the proposal! (photos from Kim)

I had SO much fun with Kim and Steve in Penticton, it was a dream to photograph there. Ever since I started going to Penticton in the summer with my amazing boyfriend and his family a couple years ago, I knew I wanted to do a shoot there. So, when Kim and Steve told me about their proposal story in Penticton, I mentioned that I have been going there the past few summers and Kim quickly replied with “when are you going to be there!?” haha and even though it wasn’t the same week as her and her family, she decided to make a weekend trip out there with Steve for their engagement photos! Such a good idea, I was super excited about it.

Kim and Steve are outdoorsy people and Steve loves his truck. Together they own an automotive shop; Back 40 Mechanical. So, we wanted to incorporate that into the shoot. Enjoy the photos! 😀

we had to stop by a fruit stand :p 

Kim is ridiculously stunning.

I always wanted to shoot in a vineyard! I was SO happy. 

SO cute! 

hehe nose-crinkle.

This truck was massive, so to get this shot I was actually on Chris’ shoulders! haha we looked pretty funny.

Kim’s beautiful engagement ring with the cork from the champagne bottle they had after Steve proposed. We finished the session off with a little celebratory champagne drinking!When I took this shot, I’m not gonna lie, I freaked out with happiness (probably squealed haha) and had to show Kim and Steve. It was such a perfect place to end this awesome session.

A HUGE thank you to my lovely boyfriend; Chris, for assisting me on this session (including carrying me on his shoulders haha)! And another HUGE thank you to Kim and Steve for coming to Penticton for this amazing engagement session. I can’t wait for your wedding this coming February! 😀

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I had lots of fun with these two newlyweds! Shine and Joby got married earlier this year in India. Because all their wedding photos were taken there, they wanted a few photos to remember their time in Vancouver as they are moving to New York soon! We went to one of the most “Vancouver” places ever; Stanley Park. Enjoy these few photos from their portrait session.

can you tell it’s another brenizer?

LOVE their laughter.

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Kirsten and Adam are two fantastic people and two people I can call my friends. I have known Kirsten since the beginning of high school. I still have a vivid memory of her sitting in class with her cute glasses wearing a hoodie that said: “whatever it is, I didn’t do it” haha remember that hoodie!? She was one of the first girls to talk to me in grade 8 and I really appreciated it. She has always been a caring person who loves to have fun.

When we were in grade 12, something exciting happened. Kirsten was set up on a blind date. I don’t remember too much about this happening at the time, but I do remember Kirsten being nervous about the date. Then a few weeks later she was super happy and talking to all us girls about this awesome guy she met! If you haven’t guessed yet, that blind date was with Adam. Adam’s aunt goes to Kirsten’s church and she decided to do a little match-making. Kirsten and Adam had met at Starbucks for their blind date and talked non-stop until they got kicked out 4 hours later!

After 3 years of being together, having romantic dates in the rain in Armstrong, Adam flying Kirsten in a plane (Kirsten is terrified of flying, but she set the date up for him), and love letters written back and forth to each other – Adam decided Kirsten was the one. Now to find the right time to propose…this is how Kirsten described the proposal: “Adam proposed on March 3rd, 2012 on Seymour Mountain while we were snow-shoeing. He had been told he wasn’t allowed to do it on Cypress Mountain like his dad and brother-in-law. He picked me up in the morning and we stopped to get a cinnamon bun (our favourite!!) and then we headed up the mountain. I was pretty sure of what was happening so as we were going up I kept sizing him up trying to figure out where the ring was! After awhile we were both pretty exhausted, so Adam walked off the trail onto a little bluff of snow. We sat and he began pulling a bunch of random things out of his backpack like a giant pair of gloves that were his uncles! Then he told me he even brought a book! As he pulled it out, wrapped in a pillow case, I started teasing him about bringing a book snowshoeing. He told me it was wrapped because he didn’t want to ruin it. I pulled out a book written by him entitled, “A fairytale…” It was a story about how we met and how our friendship grew into love, accompanied by pictures of our adventures over the years. He ended it with verses from the love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13. His somewhat awkward attempt to get UP onto 1 knee while in snowshoes drew a little giggle from between my tears. He then pulled the box from inside his coat pocket and asked me to marry him!! I managed to get out a, “mhmm!” and that was it; we were engaged!! On the way back down the trail I stopped him to show him pictures of ideas for the wedding I had saved on my cell phone and also to tell him that I wasn’t sure if I had actually said yes when he asked, but if I hadn’t, I was saying, “yes!” now. We had a quick tuna Subway lunch in the Jeep – another of our favourites! As we were pulling out of the parking lot, Adam pressed play on the CD player and the song, “It Is You I Have Loved” began to play. I had talked about having this as my aisle song and so it was just the cherry on top! 🙂 “

Here is a photo of them after the proposal (thank you Kirsten for letting me use this): 

When asked “what do you love most about your fiance?” Adam answered:  “What I love most about Kirsten is the fact that she has chosen to spend the rest of her life with me. Kirsten is the most beautiful, caring, understanding, forgiving (the list could go on and on) girl I know, and she has picked me! Kirsten is just so perfect for me in every way and I feel blessed and honoured to be able to shortly call her my wife.” (AWW!) Kirsten answered: “What I love most about Adam is that right from the beginning he has been my best friend and then some. No matter what, he is always there for me; the good times, hard times, goofy times, intimate times, he’s always been the one I want to experience things with. He never ceases to amaze me with his patience and his giant heart. I am so blessed to be looking at the rest of my life with him by my side. God could not have placed a more perfect man for me in my life!” (double AWW!) I just love these two.

On to their engagement session! We went to a couple places in White Rock, which I just adored. I had been wanting to shoot at the semiahmoo library for quite some time because it is just such a cool building! It’s a vertical garden, complete with mini hoses/lines that spray the plants every now and then haha.

Models much!?

Another brenizer, which I am quite proud of! It turned out even cooler than I imagined!

Hehehe I love their laughter!

We went to Stewart Farms for the rest of these photos. I am definitely coming back there, it had so many great areas for photos.

What a gorgeous couple right!?

He loves me, he loves me not…

…he loves her 😛

I brought out my polaroid again!

Cinnamon buns, just like the day Adam proposed 🙂

The book Adam made for Kirsten about their fairytale that he gave to her when he proposed:

LOVED the sunset, what a beautiful day. Thank you SO much Kirsten and Adam for being so wonderful!

And a BIG thank you to Faith Sexton for assisting me on this shoot! You rock girl.

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I had SO much fun with these ladies. Tania’s maid of honour wanted to surprise her on her stagette with a disney princess themed photo-shoot! I LOVED the idea. Each lovely lady dressed up as one of the Disney princesses (I will let you figure out who is who) and we took photos throughout Queens Park in New Westminster.

My assistant and I managed to get a chandelier in a tree, which was awesome for this shoot! We also had a mini carpet, little glass slipper, and many other fun props that the ladies brought with them. Frequently, we would have this one squirrel show up in photos haha he was clearly intrigued by what we wear doing/probably thought we were going to feed him. Tania and her bridesmaids lovingly called him “squaids.”

Anyway, I had a lot fun bringing out each princess in the ladies (I love disney) and I hope you all enjoy the photos! And if you are a bride hoping to do some pre-wedding/stagette photos with your bridesmaids, you should definitely consider something like this! We had a great time and I was able to get to know all the bridesmaids before the wedding day which was really nice  🙂

squirrel appearance #1

squirrel appearance #2 haha

so cute 🙂

loved this tree!

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This wedding has taken me a while to blog, mostly because it was such a beautiful, genuine wedding and I wanted readers to feel like they were there (so I apologize for the seriously large amount of photographs haha).  Amy and Dan are two amazing people. Dan is one of the funniest, happiest, and most inspirational guys I know. Amy is one of the sweetest, most optimistic, earth-loving-est (that’s definitely not a word haha) ladies I know. They have so much fun together and are an absolute joy to be around! Their love for each other is so sweet and real.

Amy and Dan’s wedding was set-up a bit differently than most. They had their ceremony at Cedar Park Church and then a lunch reception afterwards. The lunch reception included speeches, cake-cutting, etc. After that we headed out to a local winery in Delta and did some fun portraits with their 16 person wedding party! Then on to the Cammidge House for the second reception, which had a beautifully decorated tent, adorable details, a little photo-booth, and everyone had to wear cute name-tags!

I had lots of fun with Amy and Dan on their magical day! Now you should check it out  🙂

Wedding Details:
Hair and Make-Up: Erin Rogers
Ceremony: Cedar Park Church
Dress: recycled fabrics that Stella Macdonald and Amy made
Shoes: thrift store
Necklace/Earrings: Amy refashioned from a necklace from her grandma and made the earrings from recycled jewellery
Officiant: Megan Hazelton (she introduced Amy and Dan to each other!)
Bouquets: Amy made them with help from Robyn Cadamia and Sarah Hales (her sister)
Wedding Decorator/Stage Manager: Brenda Breuls
Bunting: Sarah Hales, Robyn Cadamia and Amy
Flowers: Megan Hazelton and Amy
Paper flowers, heart garlands, and boutonnieres: Dot Falconberg
Cake: Janet Priebe
Table cloths and napkins: thrift store
Reception: Cammidge House

Everyone who attended the wedding received a sweet little packet of Wildflower Seeds, on the package it says: “In the beginning God gave humanity two simple tasks: care for the Earth and make babies. We’ll get started on the making babies part, while you plant these seeds!” SO funny. 

Paper flower bouquets! love it.

Inside the shell is the gift all bridesmaids received!

HAHA Dan.

A letter to Amy from Dan.

A letter to Dan from Amy plus Dan’s awesome boutonniere!

Love Amy’s expression and the bridesmaids watching in the background.

B-E-A-utiful!

Amy and Dan talking to each other before the ceremony and without seeing each other! haha

Makes my heart melt. I was crying before Amy even got down the aisle! haha

The wedding party was somewhat scattered on the stage – it looked really cool!

I asked Amy and Dan if it would be okay to share their vows on my blog and they agreed, here are Amy’s vows:

Daniel Henry Peters,
I promise to give you at least one hug every time we are together and to always try to sneak my hand into yours.
I promise to laugh at your silly jokes and hide in the closet to scare you when you come home from work.
I promise to never tire of wanting to show you new things and never get bored of staring at your handsome profile as you drive.
I promise to encourage you in your work and in your areas of calling and always give you my honest opinion.
I promise to pray for you and encourage you to grow spritually, mentally and emotionally.
I promise to give you praise for cooking dinner, vacuuming the floor or completing a logic puzzle.
I promise to watch movies and snuggle with you, to travel and adventure with you, to listen to you and play strategy games with you, and to sew on your buttons if you carry the heavy groceries.
I promise to be committed to you and committed to making our marriage healthy, even when it’s difficult.
I promise to love you in your grey hairs and wrinkles
Thank you for marrying me.

Here are Dan’s vows:

Amy Marie Hales,
I promise to love you until we die: with my actions, with my choices, with my words, and with my time.
I promise to continually come up with new and creative ways for us to have fun together.
I promise to stand by your side when thou goest out to battle against thine enemies. Whether it be sickness, spiders, the dishes, or the destruction of our planet, I will fight with you.
I will tell everyone how amazing you are behind your back and I will never leave anyone with a negative feeling about you.
I will always find you attractive, even when you don’t feel like you are.
I will never take you for granted. I will never stop courting you.
I promise to prove my masculinity and use my charm on you alone for the rest of my life.
You bring a joy and vitality to my life that I could never experience with another human being,
Thank you for marrying me.

Oh goodness, I am going to cry again! How sweet is that!?!

A slideshow.

Speeches!

“The face” haha

wedding party!

The guys. Epic.

I just love this so much.

The beautiful ladies.

To the reception!

Every napkin had a name-tag attached to it that you would wear during the evening.

Everyone got a little jar of honey! Like I mentioned in their engagement session seen HERE.

wildflowers.

the guests wrote a name-tag for the glass mason jar they were drinking out of.

bocce ball!

the photo-booth.

we got such gorgeous light that night!

Thank you SO much Danielle Dobson and Kaylin Godin for second-shooting/assisting me!

If you like this post and what I’m doing please feel free to like it on facebook below and pin it! Thanks so much! 🙂

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  • Corrie Rempel - Oh my goodness!
    Awesome shots!!!!
    I feel that you totally captured this couple….the photos are amazing!!!!ReplyCancel

  • Laura - What an awesome wedding, thank you for sharing.
    God bless you both!ReplyCancel

  • Jim Weibelzahl - Wonderful!! I almost feel like we were present physically; though in spirit we were. God’s abundant blessings upon Amy and Dan.ReplyCancel

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