Archive for the ‘Engagement’ Category

My 2013 brides will always have a special place in my heart. What a memorable journey it has been so far helping couples plan their wedding in the midst of planning my own! Meeting up with Eric and Alyssa was so fun. We bonded talking about color combinations, bridesmaids and wedding dresses, and just sharing wedding planning tips. It’s so helpful bouncing off ideas and being inspired by each other! : )

I love how colorful Eric and Alyssa’s engagement session turned out. It makes me SUPER excited for their upcoming wedding in September, because I know there will be so many fun details and lots of vibrant colors! Stay tuned for a post on their big later this year : )

You two look amazing here, btw! And Alyssa, you look absolutely beautiful in this dress!

I am so in love with this session with Armstrong and Holly! They are some of the sweetest people you will ever meet : ) I remember talking to these two in the car and they were just expressing how lucky they were to have each other, that it was too good to be true. Oh yes, you two are blessed!

We spent our afternoon at 3rd Street Promenade and Santa Monica Beach where Holly and Armstrong shared their first date. I love that we made a quick stop at the arcades too, because they played a game of foosball together on that date and now here they are, engaged!

We took our time enjoying the beautiful light at the beach and then ended our session at LACMA. Oh, I could have shot these two forever! Aren’t they the cutest?! And Holly, you have the most beautiful smile! : ) Thank you two for such a FUN session! I’m so excited for you guys to be married soon! : )

I can’t wait to share this engagement session with you! I had asked Kim to write a little something to explain her ideas behind this shoot- I love what she sent me and thought who else but Kim could tell her own love story best?! Here it is!

—-

Past, present, future.

First, second, third.

One, two, three.

Him and me.

Grant and I met in high school; in grade 10 to be exact (yes, that’s how we say it in Canada). Well, I guess we didn’t “meet” yet, but it was during my PE class, when Grant had a spare block. He came in to shoot around on the basketball hoops along the side of the gym. We were on the “wrestling unit,” and since our PE teacher was a full-grown man, and since he didn’t think it would be appropriate to demonstrate a wrestling move on a highschool girl, he called Grant over. He told us, “this is Grant. He’s Scottish. He says skewwwt instead of scoot.” He then proceeded to pin him awkwardly to the ground, face flattened into the sticky gym mat. I then proceeded to fall in love.

The end. Kind of, not really. I would have to say that a few things happened before I get to say “the end.” First of all, after that gym encounter, I decided, in my high school mind, that in order to get his attention, I needed to join everything that had to do with basketball. So I did. I tried out for the basketball team, I joined intramural basketball, and I learned how to score-keep so that I could volunteer for his basketball games. I guess he thought I was cool enough because we started dating, and 8 years later…we’re getting married!

So, why 8 years, you ask? Well, I went down to Los Angeles for college, and he stayed up in Canada. Afterwards, we decided to pursue graduate school, and in hopes of finally being in the same place, we applied to each other’s graduate schools. Nope. Well, at least we’re in the same country now. He’s in dental school in Boston, and I’m still in Los Angeles. Our upcoming wedding means so much to us because not only will be saying “yes” to forever, but we’ll finally be living in the same city since high school!

We wanted to try to capture aspects of our journey for our engagement shoot with Eileen (who was such a joy to work with, by the way!), so we decided on the theme of “past, present future.” In order to capture our “past,” we decided to go back to that gym in grade 10 and incorporate our times playing basketball together. Since he’s currently studying in Boston, and I’m currently studying in Los Angeles, we thought it would be a fun idea to play on the long-time rivalry between the Celtics and Lakers. We were so fortunate to be able to get a whole half court to ourselves on the day of our shoot, considering the fact that we were at Venice Beach! I guess that brings us to the “present,” which we decided to capture with, yes, the Celtics and Lakers basketball jersey’s, as well as with our “pillow fight scene.” Grant and I spent hours looking for the perfect little place to rent for the night on airbnb.com, which we eventually found in Venice. We loved how this little apartment was styled and thought it would be a perfect location to use for a pillow fight because of the interesting white, cushioned walls. We’ve done a lot of flying to visit each other over these past 8 years, so incorporating feathers was our way to symbolize that. We made sure to head to Ikea the day before in order to pick up some feather pillows. During the shoot, we were all surprised at how many feathers came out of the pillows! Through choking coughs and giggles, we all commented on how not even half of the feathers in the pillow had come out, and already we knew we would be spending the entire night cleaning feathers. We also wanted to incorporate some photos with each of us on either side of a wall in the apartment to also symbolize our current separation. Since Boston is in a different time zone, oftentimes when Grant is waking up, I’m still sleeping, and when he’s getting ready for bed, I’m still wide awake. Even with only a 3 hour difference, at times we have felt world’s apart.
Finally the future. To capture the “future,” we decided to go to the beach. Grant and I both love the outdoors. We love exploring new places together and soaking up the sunshine wherever we are. We’re up for adventure and travel, and hope that our marriage is only the beginning of that exciting journey. We were initially hoping to get to the beach in order to capture some of the glowing sunset shots that Los Angeles is famous for. Unfortunately, it was a cold and gloomy day, so there wasn’t that vibrant “glow” to shoot. I’m so thankful that Eileen was so flexible and creative as a photographer because she would always just roll with punches, and I’m thrilled with how the photos came out. In fact, I think the soft, grey glow of that day matched our outfits better now that I look at the pictures! While the other 2 locations captured the playfulness that we cherish in our relationship, I feel that the photos at the beach location in a way captured the formality of the adventure that we were agreeing to step into in this marriage, and romance that would help carry us through. I’m so thankful that I got to spend that weekend with Grant by my side, and I’m even more thankful that Eileen was there to capture it all for us to cherish and be reminded of our journey together.

Past, present, future.

First, second, third.

One, two, three.

Him and me.

Finally.

—

Thank you for such a wonderful session Grant and Kim! Blessings upon blessings as you finish up the wedding planning and start your lives together this year! : )

Make-up + Hair: Frankie Inattendu

Today is a special day! : ) February 1st marks Andrew and Shana’s 5 years of being together! Woohoo, congrats you two! This post, however, is celebrating their 1 year wedding anniversary. I assisted Crystal Jean at their wedding back in 2011 and I love that they wanted to have their anniversary session at the exact location where they were married! Shana teamed up with her friend Emily Kim to style this shoot and I absolutely love all the details that went into the planning. Our time together was broken up into three sections: past, present, and future.

First, the past. Here Andrew and Shana are cuddling up in the Miyako Hybrid Hotel looking through a photo album from their wedding day… These origami cranes were saved from the wedding day! The present. Andrew and Shana celebrating their 1 year anniversary with a beautiful cake from the very place they had their wedding cake made. So cute! And finally, the future. These two writing promises to each other for the next year to come. Love what they wrote, hehe! Happy 1 year and Happy 5 years Andrew and Shana! So blessed to know you two!

Jeff and Lisa-Anne first met at UCSD through an entrepreneurship club on campus. She was the president and he wanted to join. Lisa-Anne and I laughed over the phone as she remembered his long hair and bad habit of falling asleep in class back then. And while it was not necessarily love at first sight for these two, they started falling for each other as the school year progressed.

Both Jeff and Lisa-Anne are up north now for school (and work!) and since Jeff is getting his PhD at Stanford University they decided it would be special to have their engagement session there. Love how these turned out! Thanks for having me you two- looking forward to your wedding this June!

Joe and Sherry will be getting married this coming Sunday! I had so much fun with them on their engagement session and I’m definitely looking forward to their big day! Sherry is GORGEOUS in these shots, btw! Love her maxi dress- it fit the sunset so well. She also reminds me of an actress, but I can’t exactly pinpoint who- does she remind you of anyone?! If you think of someone, do share! : )

Joe and Sherry are finishing up finals this week (they are both in dental school), so wish them luck! Ace those tests and I’ll see you two very soon! : ) Woohoo!

Jessica was the winner of my photoshoot giveaway last year. She was such a huge support throughout the whole contest and I remember seeing her “like” every single one of my posts! hehe. Thank you, Jessica! I’m so glad you were the winner!

We had so much fun during our session and it was a pleasure to finally meet Aaron (I’ve known Jessica from high school!). Your story is beautiful and I believe God will only continue to bless and lead you both as the wedding day approaches. Many blessings!

Erin and Greg are going to be married this weekend! I wanted to post my favorites from their engagement session before the big day so you could all meet the lovely couple.

These two have known each other since the 6th grade, but apparently Greg wasn’t very nice to Erin at first. It was definitely fate that brought them together years later in college and Greg had to make it up and win Erin over. Oh, and I’m so glad he did (more on their story in their wedding post!)! : ) I love how comfortable they are together and the way they make each other laugh (so cute when they do!). Definitely excited to see these two again in just a few days!

Jen and James are such a beautiful couple. I went to jr. high with Jen and only met James for the first time during this session, but I am so blown away by their love for one another and for their community. Our drive to Lacey Park and Crystal Cove was filled with such deep and moving stories of how they were able to help students (James is an English teacher and Jen works with the deaf and hard of hearing) overcome obstacles and I felt SO honored to be in the presence of such beautiful souls.

I love that Jen and James decided to wash each others’ feet at Crystal Cove. In the Bible Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, symbolizing his love for them and how he came into the world to serve man instead of to be served. Likewise, Jen and James wanted to show their selfless love by washing each others’ feet. This act of love + the sunset= ahh, SO BEAUTIFUL!

I hope from these pictures you are able to get a glimpse of what love looks like. Enjoy + stay tuned for more from their wedding! : )

Special thanks to Fionna for doing Jen’s hair + make-up and for making (YES, you read that right..MAKING!) Jen’s bright blue dress! It turned out wonderful!