Meghan and Jason live in Denver, Colorado. Since they booked me over email (after finding me via Green Wedding Shoes, one of my most favorite wedding blogs!), we didn’t get to meet until their engagement session last month. I was so ecstatic to find that we hit it off immediately – they are abundantly kind & laidback, fun & stylish (they did afterall meet while working at Urban Outfitters) and I could not be more excited for their wedding this fall at the Sonnenalp Resort in the snow-capped mountains of Vail, Colorado! From what they described, its going to be an amazing day filled with tons of great details – including all the guys in the wedding (read: including the dads!) sporting Vans.

Abbot Kinney, hands-down the cutest little street on the west side, felt like the perfect place to photograph such a hip & happy couple. At the end of the session, we headed down to the sea – we didn’t include the beach in our original plans, but in the end they expressed wanting to carry those beachy memories of LA back to Colorado with them :)

P.S. Meghan is an incredible fashion photographer & you can check out her work here. Her photography background resulted in a those fun moments where I would start describing a certain pose/shot, our photog brains magically connected, and Meghan knew exactly what I was talking about :) Her photography is stunning, but she clearly knows how to work it on the other side of the camera as well!

I had been itching for an opportunity to use these fantastic fabric flowers in a shoot, and loved that Meghan & Jason were so awesomely game for incorporating them :) They were created by the amazing Kim Sanders of Art with Nature Design for the Utterly Engaged Design Challenge we worked on together. She came up with the dreamiest tablescape and to my great joy, gifted these handemade beauties to me at the end!

Abbot Kinney never fails to deliver my favorite things – amazing color & gorgeous light…

The first photographer-client meeting is sort of like a blind date. You come in not quite knowing what to expect, get to know each other, find your common ground, and all the while, search for that special “click”. After meeting with Liz – as has happened in many wonderful initial meetings – I left totally smitten. She was laidback yet obviously so giddy-excited about her special day, full of great ideas, passionate about her wedding photos, and all in all a perfect Adrienne Gunde Photography fit. She explained that I was the first of a few photographers she planned to meet, so I encouraged her keep in mind that as important as it is to find a photographer whose style you love, it is equally as important to love their personality, as your photographer is with you all.day.long on your wedding day!

So you can imagine my excitement when I came across a sweet email in my inbox a couple weeks later, confirming she felt the “click” as well! We had a second meeting at a cozy Starbucks to finalize everything, and when we both ordered green tea lattes it most clearly was meant to be :)

I had tons of fun brainstorming this engagement shoot with Liz & Adam. We conjured up a batch of colorful balloons, a bouquet of the prettiest pink roses, and Save the Dates they handrew with love (and with admirable speed, right along Pacific Coast Highway!) We shot at my most favorite “secret” location, then chased the light to the beach to finish up. As evidenced below, Liz & Adam are so beyond sweet, wonderful as individuals, and absolutely perfect as a couple. I cannot wait for their wedding next July at the La Venta Inn!

I love when you meet someone and instantly feel that “click.” The conversation just flows, you’re totally on the same wavelength, you bond over a love of tea lattes, or silly reality shows, or of course, weddings :) I felt the much-coveted click the first time Jenn and I spoke in a phone conversation. Her warm and bubbly personality and excitement about her wedding day was absolutely contagious and I was so excited when she booked me right over the phone! This past weekend I drove down to San Diego to meet Jenn and her fiance Ron for the first time. It was a delight to find that they are both so open and down-to-earth and most of all such troopers – the temperatures were a raging 95 degrees that day but you could never tell from their relaxed smiles and warm laughs.

They had originally wanted to do the session at Balboa Park, but an Earth Day celebration meant hoards of people and impossible parking. Instead we headed to Coronado which proved to be the perfect alternative!

Isn’t Jenn just gorgeous?

Ron is quite dapper himself:

Jenn has a background in dance – look at those moves!

The light was just perfect…

We then headed to North Park to wrap up the session:

Jenn & Ron – thank you for enduring the temps and for a wonderful afternoon! Can’t wait until your wedding in Santa Barbara next month!