We’ve finally announced the winner of our beautiful E-Bridal engagement ring, and you might recognise her! After a long, beautiful weekend spent at the E-Bridal Expo earlier this year, we were eager beavers to do the draws for our competitions and announce the lucky winners. None more so than our photographer Alice, who relishes in being the bearer of good news…

This year, we even had an EXTRA special surprise for our girls at E-Bridal, in the form of a one of a kind engagement ring, courtesy of Michael Hill jewellers – because we just love, well…LOVE! (And jewellery of course…)

We were thrilled to Announce that the winner this year was Madeline Richardson, who decided to use her $90 Expo special to come in and get some gorgeous photos done with her fiancé Joe (who, to her surprise, was actually up for it!)

“When I got the phone call, I was so surprised – I barely remembered the E-Bridal Expo… I never win anything so it was a bit of a shock. I had actually forgotten about the ring; I was just so excited to do the photo shoot!”

Maddie and Joey met on a dating site (Not Tinder!), and found themselves talking more or less non-stop for several weeks before deciding to meet up- that was just over three years ago. Since then, Joe has popped the question, and now they’re making plans to get married in 2019, back at Joey’s family farm in New Zealand.

“We’re hoping to have the ceremony on the beach and then go back to his grandparent’s farm, it sits right in the valley and there are all the mountains all the way around! We thought we’d set up a marquee for an outdoor reception; we want something nice and casual where everyone can just drink and be merry and have a good time.”

When we met them at E-Bridal, it was all too obvious just how close they really were – and even more so in the studio where Alice got to capture their intimacy and friendship. One of the best things about couple’s shoots is that you get to take and put a pause on different aspects of your relationship and really see it. Maddie was particularly drawn to a portrait where she felt we’d captured Joey’s protective nature of her, and Joe, despite a few nerves beforehand, appreciated being able to see their intimacy and tenderness.

“It was killer, I loved it. I had just come off a night shift and was so tired I didn’t really know what was going on, but because we were told exactly what to do there was no fuss and we were comfortable and I actually enjoyed it – plus, I got to see my girl”

Like many couples, having a photo shoot isn’t necessarily the first thing they thought about doing together, but in the same respect, they were glad that they did. Not only because it’s actually a lot more fun that what people imagine it to be, but because it allows couples to pause and appreciate what they have together and have a tangible memory of that.

In our day to day lives, it’s very easy to take the ones we love for granted – a photograph reminds us of what is precious to us, and gives us something valuable to pass on to our kids as well. After all, children learn love from their parents, and having photos of yourselves on display in the home is your way of telling them what’s important, and where we put our pride.

” Thank you for making me look and feel beautiful…I feel like you gave me the unique opportunity to see myself through Joey’s eyes, and that for me, is priceless and will stay with me for life”