There are a lot of beautiful things I saw during the afternoon I spent with Tori & Kate in and around their home. A cozy living room with bright cheery posters. A sun-drenched kitchen. Colorful berries atop homemade vegan pancakes. Matching aprons. A wall of hearts. Sweet terriers and cuddly cats.

But the most beautiful thing? By far?

Was love.

Because this is love you see in these photos. That giddy giggly kind of love. That connected souls kind of love. That feels-like-home, best-friend, you-really-really-get-me kind of love.

I’m counting all my lucky stars that Tori’s sister found me online through Green Wedding Shoes and gifted this session to Tori & Kate. Because of her I was able to meet two amazing ladies and capture a glimmer of their lives together :) These kinds of homey sessions are still always my favorites and this one is no exception… it makes my heart so so happy.

{ Thank you to Green Wedding Shoes, one of my most favorite blogs, for featuring this session! Check out the post here! }

Ann & Alex’s engagement session blew my mind to UTTER and COMPLETE smithereens. As astoundingly talented artists, they’ve recently created their own publication and frequently put on amazing little events {like this one} showcasing art & music in the community. They are no doubt one of the most creative couples we’ve worked with and their homegrown & intimate session completely embodied their relationship and who they are. It was like a perfect sneak peek into their lives and since it was so them, it was innately & wonderfully unique.

I like to think of their session as broken down into 3 parts of complete awesomeness:

1) An intimate summer backyard dinner with explosions of texture & color
2) A walk through their neighborhood to a cute community garden
3) Fun with projector patterns on a wall…

I’m crossing my fingers that you make it to the end of this post, because all 3 are totally amazing and inspirational!

But starting with the first part….

Ann & Alex recently moved to the west side, to a cute home that they share with friends and have dubbed the “Culver Den”. I was so excited when they suggested doing their session there since I LOVE photographing people at home – I feel like there’s such an intimate side of them you can capture and I love the cozy organic vibe the backdrop provides. When I arrived at the Culver Den, Ann & Alex had created a sweet outdoor dinner, complete with the most colorful & well-thought out details – flowers & feathers in vases, a cup of vibrant vegetables, garnished glasses of strawberry lemonade, a found vintage chandelier. And thus, my mind was blown.

Love the paint on Alex’s hands – he said even after scrubbing it wouldn’t all come off!

Next, they wanted to take me on a little walk through their new neighborhood to a community garden down the street. Ann told me that the houses in their neighborhood showcased the most interesting plants and flowers, and she was in no way kidding. We saw some of the craziest, most gigantic, most beautiful flowers I’ve seen in our walk. When we got to the garden, Alex pulled out an impromptu necklace he had made for Ann from a lovely painted wooden block he was using in one of his art projects. It was so sweet!

For this part of the session, Ann also slipped on the cutest head piece, which she had handcrafted herself (she has a line of them called Amisa). And so, my camera clicked away & my mind continued to be blown.

Lastly, we headed back to the house since they wanted to try out one more thing. Alex had recently illustrated an animation of different patterns and he wanted to try some photos using the projection as a backdrop. Um, YES.

MIND = BLOWN.

Ann & Alex, thank you so much for inviting me to take a sneak peek into your lives! Can’t wait until the wedding!!

I am uber excited to share this engagement session for a few reasons: (1) it was for Scott’s beautiful sister Lauren & her sweet fiance Josh, (2) it was personalized to fit them & their relationship to a tee, and (3) it involved amazing, delicious, get-in-mah-tummy FOOD!

From the first time they met, Lauren & Josh bonded over their love of good food and wine, and cooking together immediately became a pastime that they shared. When they suggested a “cooking” theme for their session, I was SO on board – by choosing something that was special to their relationship, the session was innately and wonderfully unique. Lauren & Josh put such thought into all the details, crafting up a colorful menu, busting out their cute aprons, and cracking open one of their favorite wines. The result – a wonderful themed engagement session that just shone with their personalities!

Lauren & Josh save the corks (in these perfect apothecary jars!) from all the wine bottles they have enjoyed together & with friends over the years:

I loved this “Lady & the Tramp” inspired shot, but Scott later suggested it would have been even better if Josh had rolled a tomato towards Lauren with his nose. Ha!

After the cooking was done, we headed to the park right across the street to finish up the session. I have lived by and visited this park since I was a wee little child, but I never imagined it’d be so awesome for an engagement session! Train tracks + pretty light? YES PLEASE!

Stay tuned for their beautiful vineyard wedding coming up next! They were married at the amazing Firestone Vineyards in Los Olivos, which is pretty much my new favorite town! (A large contributing factor to this is the fact that it houses the most amazing cupcakes known to man.)