Carrie & Matt’s story begins at the Hollywood Bowl. Carrie was performing in the choir of a show and Matt worked behind-the-scenes at the Bowl. When they awesomely suggested doing their engagement session there, I was a) completely elated and b) a little confused. My visits there were always happy, involving balmy summer days & amazing sounds courtesy of The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie, & Tegan and Sara. But they have also been marked by insane crowds, sitting at the tippy-top of the wooden bench seating, and tandem parking webs of death. It boggled my mind to imagine that the bowl was open to the public during the day, that we could run amok through ALL the seating (box seats! box seats!), and that we could possibly be – wait for it – THE ONLY ONES THERE.

It was a beautiful morning. Carrie & Matt are so fun & laidback and they were kindly on board with me asking them to run to all corners of the Bowl (we’re standing in the box seats!!) I am beyond excited for their wedding next month at Senshin Buddhist Temple. Not only is it going to be unlike any wedding we have done, Senshin holds fond memories for me of obon festivals, gatherings, and taiko practices/performances. I know it is going to make an amazing backdrop for their wedding!

We started off the session at Griffith Park. I love how green everything was due to the recent rains…

It was so cool being on the other side of the stage & peeking through…

Below is the very spot where they first met. It was so sweet watching them get a bit teary-eyed as they reminisced…

I met with Linda & Chris on Abbot Kinney, one of my favorite little streets in LA & one of my favorite things about living on the west side. We strolled along the line of colorful bungalow storefronts before running down to Venice Beach to soak up the remainder of the light. I am totally in love with all the color in this session – it makes me want to do a happy dance & give Abbot Kinney a big high five. Lots of times I’ll turn 1 or 2 photos per blog post into black and white, but for these it felt wrong, all wrong! Linda & Chris brought so much joy and life into the session and I love how the colors reflect that happy vibe :)

Sidenote: I’m a little (uber) obsessed with Linda’s super cute dresses – she’s going to make one stylish bride! Sidenote #2: how lovely is her hair & make-up? Getting your make-up done professionally makes a world of difference in photos & Nicole Deanne did an amazing job!

Deb & David’s engagement session was like a little tour of Orange County!

We started off at the John Wayne Airport, where Deb flies in when visiting David on weekends. This portion of the session reminded me of the opening/ending scenes in Love Actually where all the loved ones are meeting up at the arrival gate with the hugging and the laughing and the crying (it makes me bawl immediately). It’s easy to forget with the long layovers & uncomfy seats & bad meals, but airports really can be magical places, and John Wayne has become a special place for Deb & David, a way for them to stay connected as they live on opposite ends of the state. They’re actually building their wedding around this travel theme, and I know it’s going to be completely spectacular!

For the second portion we shot at The Lab, the cool “anti-mall” in Costa Mesa, and we finished up at Laguna Beach, which was covered in lovely light and seashells of every shape & size.

I love love loved hanging out with Deb & David – they were so super sweet, so in love, and so relaxed – they had tons of creative ideas but also put their complete trust in us for the photos. Can’t wait until their San Francisco wedding in July!

A couple weeks after the session Deb sent me their save-the-date, which David designed. How perfect is that little airplane-shaped paperclip?