Lucy & Graeme's engagement shoot in Islington

I lost count of how many times Lucy and I had tried to arrange their engagement shoot but with this disastrous summer I was really keen to hang in there until we had a beautiful evening.  We had a great location picked out; the canal near their home in Islington and I knew that given the right day it would look fabulous.  We hadn't even met by the time I knocked on their door last night but when Lucy opened the door looking utterly gorgeous and floaty in a beautiful summer dress I sighed happily at the prospect of shooting this very lovely couple. This perfect evening made me even more jealous of my American wedding photographer friends who take this amazing light for granted every day!  Hopefully they will be lucky again on their wedding day in September on the banks of Loch Lomond.

Lucy Holland Smith || Handbag Designer

Lucy and I met at school in Somerset in our early teens and were friends for a few years before she moved away from our school. I have many happy memories of spending time at her lovely home. Unfortunately we lost touch and by the time she picked me up at her local station in the Cotswolds we calculated that it had been 17 years since we had last seen each other! We were soon reminiscing over tea and cake about school, people, her old cat Cherry Plum. Lucy is now a handbag designer and founder of Milo & Saint, and had me gushing over how gorgeous her bags are – they are all so very British in quality, style and even named after London streets. We took a few pics of Lucy then were quickly distracted by the love of her life her cat Woody…

The following images of some of Milo and Saint's handbags are taken from Lucy's website: