Dark and moody and utterly romantic, today’s story centres around Caitlin and Bayden and it’s set against the stunning Kangaroo Valley during that magic time we call golden hour. With beautiful photography (and a film, scroll on for that one!) both by Translucent Photography, this looks like the ideal way to spend a weekend (just grab something warm to drink, and quite frankly, your romantic wander is set!) What cold weather dreams are made of, right here!

And this story? It’s a winner. The pair, who met through a mutual friend at a farewell dinner, became engaged when Bayden popped the question on (the day after almost!) Caitlin’s birthday. The bride to be sharing the story.  “I went about my day and then got home to have a bit of a birthday dinner with my family, where they all just kept looking at me really funnily.

It was after midnight before Bayden got home, so it wasn’t even my birthday anymore and he just told me he needed to show me something so we got in the car. He handed me a blindfold and he started to drive. When we got to his intended destination, I had to keep my blindfold on until we got to the right spot.

We did a bit of a hike and when it was time to take it off, we were on top of the hill in Gerringong where you can see the ocean and the mountains all at once. We’d had one of our first dates there, and he was there on one knee.”


As for the reason Caitlin & Bayden chose the forest for their engagement photos? “We just knew that we wanted nature to be a big element in our photos, because it’s going to be a big part of our wedding itself, taking place in Kangaroo Valley. So we brought that idea to Lucy and she came up with the setting and everything else. We were stoked with how they came out, it was a beautiful afternoon and we wouldn’t have done anything differently.”

One of Caitlin & Bayden’s favourite stories together? Their very first Valentines Day. Caitlin sharing “We went to see Aladdin the musical for our first Valentines Day date ever. We’d made it a big thing and we’d dressed up very 1950s inspired – Bayden even wearing suspenders and a nice old man hat. We had gotten on a bus in Sydney that we thought would take us to where we needed to be to have dinner before the show.

We actually ended up outside a bottleshop in Chiswick nowhere near where we needed to be at the end of the line on the bus we’d taken. We’d waited about 45 minutes when another bus came down the road, so we approached the driver and asked if/when there would be another bus to take us to the city. He was also at the end of his route but remarked that we didn’t look at all like we belonged at a bottleshop in Chiswick while we were all dressed up and very lost looking.

He was very very kind and told us to get on the bus, and he drove us back to another bus stop where the next bus would take us exactly where we needed to be. He joked with us the whole way back, and we ended up making the show in plenty of time and had a freaking ball.”

On what she loves about Bayden, Caitlin tells “Bayden is always able to see a positive, and he’s taught me not to take everything so seriously. He never lets stress get to him, which means he’s also the most calming influence I’ve ever known. He’s the bloody best dog dad ever to our puppy son, Horace.”

“Caitlin and I have so many interests in common” notes Bayden on his love for Caitlin. “We can jam out to a lot of the same music, we can bash about in the kitchen together… she and Horace are my little family. I wake up every day knowing that I get to come home to them and it makes me so happy… I also know that I’m coming home to a warm electric blanket, which she always remembers to turn on for when I get home super late from work. It’s the best, she’s the best.”