Nic and Sarah's pre-wedding shoot by Claudia Rose Carter looks like a melancholy editorial piece from a glossy magazine.

Seriously...the gorgeous pair just look so glamorous and cool hanging out by the dark and brooding sea with the grey sky stretching out above them.

I love Sarah's bold red lip and she just looks so happy, warm and safe with Nic - which is precisely how being with your fiancé should make you feel.

More and more couples are having engagement or pre-wedding shoots. It helps them to relax in front of the camera and get used to their photographers style.

As someone who HATES having their photo taken, I think it's a great idea. Sarah says that her and Nic were very camera shy at first, but by the end of the shoot...well, I think you can see from these images that they both relaxed and ended up looking like models!

Sarah The Bride: Nic and I met at a mutual friend's wedding just over two years ago (he is still pleased with himself for bagging the Bridesmaid!) and life has been a whirlwind since. Back in May last year Nic took me by surprise on a trip to Switzerland - a place close to both of our hearts - and got down on one knee in front of snow-capped mountains and asked me to be his wife!

A year later we will be getting married at my family home in Essex where we hope to carry some of the Swiss themes through into our marquee wedding. We are having an intimate service at the local village church where my Father is buried, which will hold great sentiment for us both, and we can't wait to bring our friends and family together from around the world for a big party.

Nic and I have tried to create a wedding look that is both relaxed and glamorous, but not forgetting the odd reference to my Essex heritage for good measure!

We chose Claudia Rose Carter as our photographer as from the outset her style appealed to both of us. We both love her informal style - Claudia has such ability to really capture the moment and create some breath-taking images.

With both of us a bit uneasy in front of the camera and a 'wedding shoot' included in our package, we decided it was a good idea to meet ahead of the big day so we could get comfortable with having our photograph taken...and for Nic to practice keeping his eyes open!

Claudia chose a remote location where one of the oldest churches in England sits against the Essex coastline and pulled a Pinterest board together for us so we could get a sense of how she wanted to style the shoot. After a slightly awkward, and very cold (!) start, Nic and I started to relax and really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know Claudia as well as exploring a new area for us both.

We are both so glad we decided to take up the wedding shoot - we have some incredible photographs to mark such an exciting time of our life and we're really looking forward to working with Claudia on the wedding day itself. We are blown away by her talent.