Amidst the palm trees & the incredible architecture of the Stanford campus, Emily & Scott’s paths first crossed. Their dorms were next to each other & they would often see each other in the dining hall or on the way to class. After freshman year, Scott left to France for two years to serve a mission for his church, and then just a few months before he came home, Emily left to serve an eighteen month mission in Japan. During their three years apart, they kept in touch by sending letters & cereal to one another. When Emily returned from her mission, they we were once again Stanford students together…and over the course of time they began dating, fell in love & realized that they never wanted to be with anyone else.
On that same beautiful campus where they first met, Scott sent Emily on a scavenger hunt where at the end, he asked her to marry him…and she said yes! They are getting married this summer in Boston & although I’m not going to photograph their wedding, I loved being able to get to know them while shooting their engagements! They are fun, easy going & completely, absolutely & totally crazy in love. Here are my favorites from their engagement session at the Stanford campus!
I love shooting at the Stanford campus because of the beautiful architecture & mosaics…
FAVORITE.
I love all the huge palm trees there! One of my favorites…
He would always try to catch a glimpse of Monica as she left class in high school. Jorge was in the classroom next door & he would see her every now & again in the hallway… Smitten by her good looks, Jorge was intrigued & wanted to get to know her. As time went on, they began to notice each other & through a mutual friend, they began talking. Over the summer, he got a call from Monica…they ended up setting up a date, planning on going to the movies but ended up going to different movie theaters! After they realized that they had gone to separate theaters, they met up & went for a walk instead. It was the first of many, many conversations that they would have together. They began talking on the phone for hours & hours and over the course of time, Jorge finally asked her to be his. And they’ve been together ever since! They are a dynamic duo who love to simply be together no matter what they are doing.
We met up in Emeryville for their engagements-I LOVE Emeryville because there are so many amazing backgrounds & unexpected colors everywhere. We had a great time exploring & laughing-I am excited to shoot Monica & Jorge’s wedding this year & can’t wait to see how beautiful their day is going to be! Here are my favorites from their engagements!
Monica’s ring is stunning!
This is one of my favorites of the day! Loved the light as the sun faded…
It’s crazy how things come full circle. Trina & Anthony first met over 20 years ago in middle school…they were close friends & they even had a short relationship (like most middle school romances it lasted about 36 hours!). Over time, they realized that they were just the best of friends. They would see each other at church dances, in the hallway at school & they’d talk after school-making each other laugh like crazy. As time went on, Trina & Anthony moved on to High School, getting wrapped up in their schoolwork, extra curricular activities, school & LIFE. Years went by & one day Anthony saw Trina on Facebook (thank Mark Zuckerburg!). Suddenly a wave of memories came back to Anthony & he remembered the beautiful, funny & fabulous Trina. He HAD to contact her. Anthony had to be persistent with Trina & convinced her to go on a date with her. As soon as their date began, they picked up right where they had left off…and once again they became the best of friends. They would meet for dinner every few weeks & as time went on, they realized that they could not be without each other. They made each other laugh, they had a blast when they were together & most importantly, they were head over heels in love with each other!
As they were celebrating a family member’s birthday, Anthony stole Trina away from the party in a limo & took her back to the same middle school where they had first met. He explained that it was in those halls at that very school where he fell in love with her all those years ago…that he never wanted to be without her in his life again. He got down on one knee and presented her with the most GORGEOUS ring and asked here to be his wife. After a few minutes of being speechless & looking at that ring……she said YES!!!!!!! I am SUPER excited for their wedding at Tahoe in the spring!
Funny story about their engagement location…they wanted to go to Baker Beach-a place where I’ve shot dozens & dozens of engagements. Apparently Baker Beach is a nude beach & so every.single.time I go there with a couple, I always mention, “this is supposedly a nude beach but out of the dozens of times I’ve been here, I’ve NEVER seen anyone in the nude.” When I took Trina & Anthony there, I gave them the disclaimer about it being a nude beach & we laughed about how funny it would be if we saw people there in their birthday suits. As we walked closer & closer to the Golden Gate Bridge, we saw off in the distance a horrifying sight: an old man doing YOGA in the nude!!!! I almost died laughing. The waves were bigger than I’ve ever seen them at the beach & I LOVE that Trina & Anthony climbed up these rocks so we could get this awesome shot…
LOVE THIS ONE!
Nice work on the ring, Anthony!
It all began at Clayton Middle School…in Miss Sawyer’s English class…in the font row…and since Emily & Kealan were seated right next to each other in that front row, their lives would never be the same. Miss Sawyer put Kealan in the front row because he was rowdy & she thought if he was in the front row, he would behave better in class. And Emily was put in the front row because she was shy & Miss Sawyer thought that it help her to make friends if she sat in the front row. Well, Miss Sawyers’s wisdom in her placement of her students paid off! Emily & Kealan began dating & have been together ever since! In a time of life when most kids are confused & well, awkward, something came very clear to Emily & Kealan…they made each other happy. Wait: that’s an understatement: they made each other the HAPPIEST. They made each other laugh. They made each other better people. And they couldn’t see their lives without the other in it. I’m a big believer of romances that start at Clayton Middle School because that’s where my parent’s met!
Years later, one Christmas morning, Emily & Kealan excitedly checked their stockings to see what Santa had brought them (don’t you love how opening your stockings never gets less exciting-no matter what your age!?!?). At the bottom of her stocking, Emily felt a box. She immediately knew what it was….and she froze! She finally pulled the box out of her stocking to find it empty. She turned around & Kealan was on one knee with a beautiful vintage ring that fits fabulous Emily soooooo perfectly. She excitedly said YES!!!!! They are getting married in May & I am super, SUPER excited to photograph their wedding! On their wedding day, it will be 10 years that they’ve been together & I have a feeling that it is going to be the celebration of a lifetime!
Emily & Kealan thought it would be fun to shoot their engagements at the place where their story began-at the middle school! We were excited to find out that the day we were planning on shooting their engagements that the Reno Hot Air Balloon Races were happening so we started the photos there. I loved all the bright colors from the balloons! We had a great time & I am beyond excited to witness their wedding in May! Here are my favorites from their super fun engagement session…
Um….I LOVE THIS PHOTO!!!!
Then we headed over to Clayton Middle School…which was an amazing location!
Check out Emily’s fabulous vintage ring….isn’t it incredible? Love Kealan’s ring, as well!
I’m sure they couldn’t be any cuter together! LOVE this one.
It’s been one whirlwind of a summer! Here are a few sneak peeks of what’s coming up on the blog!! As always, I can’t wait to post the entire sessions of these!
