Mary-Jane Photography & Design captured Cristina and Jared’s engagement portraits around Brisbane city. Making use of industrial features, solid, straight lines and the beauty of the inner city, Jared, Cristina and Mary-Jane spent a day commemorating their love and the beauty of Brisbane.

Cristina shares their story. “Jared and I met back in October of 2009 at a wedding of a common friend. I had attended Uni with the groom and Jared had worked with him. It was very random as I was actually meant to come to the wedding with a date and Jared originally wasn’t even meant to be invited to the wedding!”

“Shortly afterwards we started casually dating, though I didn’t think anything of it as I knew that 6 weeks later I would be going to work in England for an entire 2 months and figured it wouldn’t withstand the distance. Jared on the other hand knew it was something special and just 1 week before I left asked me to date him exclusively while I was in England and I agreed. The 2 months I was away did amazing things for our relationship and we got to know each other extremely well via email and text that may not have been possible to the same depth had we continued seeing each other in person during that time.”

” Once I arrived back to Australia I already knew Jared was the one. By Valentines Day of 2010 I even began looking at rings though I knew we wouldn’t get engaged for a while longer as we didn’t want to rush something so important ”

“Jared proposed on the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve of 2010/2011. This was very special for me as New Years Eve is my absolute favourite time of year and I think starting the New Year as engaged and being able to begin planning our life together was amazing. The proposal happened at Burleigh Beach on the cliffs, where our first official date was and is also one of my most favourite places in the world (we’re also planning to have our Trash the Dress photos taken here).”

“I had known Mary-Jane for a while and as soon as Jared & I became engaged, I knew I wanted her to do our wedding photos. I know she is a versatile photographer and I knew I wanted photos that were a little different and not the typical bridal or engagement shots – so when I suggested that I wanted urban and architectural shots she was very excited!”

“Together we chose the Goodwill Bridge in Southbank, Queensland Performing Arts Center and Gallery of Modern Art as locations. These places are important to me as I studied violin at the Queensland Conservatorium and would walk over the bridge every day. I also wanted photos at QPAC because of my performing music background, and its also such a beautiful clean cut and classic building that will always be around and important for Brisbane. I also love the look of the new GoMA building and its classic walls and open spaces (simple and uncomplicated is a look both Jared and I like and it reflects our relationship) and I’ve always been a fan of urban fashion photography, so I knew we could get some excellent shots there that were different from the usual typical locations you see in bridal magazines.

We loved how our engagement shots turned out and cant wait for our wedding day!!”