Marie & Jan
I don’t think there is a more romantic time of day than sunset and with a love of European forests (Jan is from Germany and Marie from France). Jan chose the Secret Forest in Sherwood, outside of Brisbane for their engagement photographs. They joined Willow Branch Photography to capture the romantic moments of their engagement and it was literally their engagement with Jan having proposed earlier that day, a complete surprise to Marie! Jan tells, “It was our 11 month anniversary, so I told her I had planned a surprise day for her. I took her for a picnic at the Secret Forest in Oxley. After eating, Marie was really tired and she had a nap while I was nervously drinking all the champagne. When she finally woke up, we had a glass together and then I popped the question. I had booked the engagement photo shoot for later that day, because Marie once mentioned that she would love to have professional pictures taken for her engagement. I didn’t plan anything for the night because I knew that Marie would want to skype her friends and family in France.”
Jan & Marie tell the story of how they met. “We met an Italian pasta dinner party of a mutual friend. We instantly liked each other and didn’t stop talking until all guests were gone. Then our friend Elena offered us to stay the night. The next morning, we went to the West End Markets together and despite a hangover had a wonderful day. We still love going to the markets because it reminds us of how we met.” 
On what he loves about Marie, “Marie is intelligent, funny, creative, caring, and just the right amount of crazy. She has a strong character, knows what she wants and doesn’t shy away from an argument. I love living with her and spending as much time together as possible because it never gets boring.” 
On what she loves about Jan, Marie notes, “Jan is loving, and my first supporter in whatever I do. When I decided to change the decoration of the living room and to make the couch and the pillows covers (I didn’t know how to sew) he came with me to the shop to choose the fabric. He accepts the ‘no man’s land’ chaos on my side of the bed while I want everything tidy elsewhere. I’m a contradiction but he loves me the way I am anyway.” 
Marie and Jan tell some of the funnier stories of their relationship “Both of us are not native speakers, so there are some miscommunications once in a while. Two especially stick out. Jan: One day, shortly after we started dating, Marie picked me up from work and we talked about former relationships. At some point, Marie casually asked me if I have ever been shitted on. Being quite puzzled I tried to formulate an answer. After a while, I managed to say a “What”? while Marie kept driving. After a bit of awkward silence, I realised that “shitted” and “cheated” sound the same if pronounced with a French accent. We had a good laugh!” Marie adds, “The other one happened after we moved in together. Jan told me that he wanted to sleep around. When I reacted angrily, Jan looked really confused about my reaction until he realised that the German expression “to sleep a round”, meaning to sleep a bit, does not translate one-to-one into English. One of the qualities that I like about Jan is that is a perfect gentleman, however I wasn’t quite used to this. The first time he opened the door of the taxi for me I walked around it and sat on the other side…same thing for our first date in a restaurant…” 
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