Dawn and Matt

I’m a big fan of engagement photographs that represent you and today’s shoot is so quintessentially Melbourne, taking in all the things that Melbournites love to do captured by photographer Bek Smith that I thought it was a lovely shoot to share this Saturday. A snap in front of the Shrine of Remembrance, enjoying the beautiful gardens, a cocktail at Madame Brussels and of course, cosying up in Melbourne’s graffiti lane ways!

Bek tells, “Dawn and Matt wanted a shoot that reflected their young, urban lifestyle. They love living in Melbourne, Australia and that is where they have started building a life together. They wanted it to be funky, colourful, relaxed and non-traditional. And more than anything, they wanted it to be fun- which it was! ”

“Dawn and Matthew met while on holidays in Langkawi, Malaysia. Dawn was visiting her friend Michelle (both Americans) and Matthew was on vacation with his brother and a mate (All Australian). Dawn and Michelle were drinking in a tiki bar when the Malaysian waitress brought a note to their table, from the guys, asking them over for a drink. They made plans to meet up again in Thailand and exchanged email addresses and promised to meet up again in Australia 6 months later (Dawn and Michelle had already booked to go live in Sydney for a few months before the Malaysia trip.) Dawn and Matt emailed, text-messaged, and skyped until she left for Sydney. 5 days after Dawn and Michelle landed in Sydney, Matthew flew up from Melbourne for a visit and the rest is history.”

“Matthew loves how Dawn has permanently moved to Australia so they could be together. He shows her every day how much he appreciates the sacrifice and tells her how brave and strong he thinks she is. Dawn loves how supportive Matthew is and how he shows her every single day how much he loves her. Actions have always meant more than words to Dawn and since Matthew is the most thoughtful, kind and loyal person she has ever met- it makes the relocation completely worth it.”

“Matt and Dawn were spending Christmas in Dawn’s hometown of Buffalo, New York. They planned a romantic night away together in between Christmas and New Years and booked a room over-looking Niagara Falls. Matthew hid the ring under a chair facing the giant picture windows looking down on the wintry- Niagara Falls. Matt opened a bottle of champagne, put on their favourite song and asked Dawn for a dance. As she entered his arms she felt his heart- beating fast and asked him if he was feeling alright. Then he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. She cried so hard that when Matt stood up to hug her, she asked him to get back down on his knee again and do it again because she was so overwhelmed that she forgot what he said.”