Part of what makes my job so insanely awesome is getting to experience stories in the making and then saving those stories in my camera. The other part is getting to hear stories from way before I ever even came along. One of my favorites is the “how we met” story – over the phone or email or a hot cup of coffee, I have heard tons of hopelessly romantic & wonderful versions. Christin & Andrew’s story, however, might have reached a whole new level of romantic, I believe my exact words when she told it to me were, “it’s like out of a movie!”

They met on a plane from DC to LA – Andrew, who was sitting a row or two behind Christin, sent her a sweet message thanks to Virgin America’s high-tech futuristic seat-to-seat messaging system. They spent the remainder of the flight talking, which turned into numerous trips cross-country, and now, an engagement. Christin wanted to tie their romantic beginnings into the session and we eventually came up with the idea of paper airplanes. We folded a couple larger ones and tons of teensy colorful ones (out of origami, which is my crafting nemesis – I’m positive all those nose-diving airplanes were mine).

Christin & Andrew – we had such a fun afternoon with you! Thank you for allowing us to share a bit of your story :)

P.S. This session was featured on the ever-lovely & inspirational Ever Ours blog! Thank you Lydia!

On the right they’re making “infinity hearts” – a cute symbol of their own creation!

For the second half of their engagement session, Hana & Toshi chose the stunning Griffith Observatory {see Part I of their session here}  As we brainstormed ideas, Hana googled some past sessions that were done there, and came across some lovely photos that my friend Caroline Tran had done, sending a couple to me as her inspiration. Hana loved the concept of a pink balloon and decided to double the fun with two, as well as some adorable handmade cards which you will see below.

I loved shooting at the observatory! The combo of the whimsical balloons, the glittery city lights, the watercolor sunset, and an absolutely sweet & down-for-anything couple made for the dreamiest session.

** On a side note, just discovered last night that we were nominated for the Poppytalk awards! I was so excited as I love their beautiful design blog! Would be so honored if you would vote for us here! **

Here goes one of my big lifetime confessions, right alongside having not seen all the Star Wars movies (I know, it’s blasphemy) & thinking breakfast sausages dipped in syrup are delicious: in all my time at UCLA & thereafter, I have never been to a single football game. And though I’ve never shouted my pride from the bleachers, I am a glowing Bruin at heart – I braved the flyer warzone that is Bruinwalk, I spent long nights at taiko rehearsals in Wooden, and have eaten enough Diddy Riese cookies to feed a small nation. So when Hana & Toshi suggested USC for the first half of their engagement session, I ran away. Just kidding. I love shooting on any and all college campuses and of course happily obliged! Campuses are awesome for weekend engagement sessions since all the students are tucked away in their dorm rooms/hanging out off-campus/doing laundry at home and there are tons of different backdrops & beautiful architecture to get creative with.

Of course I could have photographed Hana & Toshi anywhere and the photos would have magically made themselves – as you will see below, my camera fell madly in love with them. Stay tuned for Part II, where we ventured across town to the Griffith Observatory with balloons in hand!