Kat & Ryan’s session consisted of a wonderful morning stroll along Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica. I loved the casual urban vibe of it all and the little color-filled spots we found along the way. And — although this may sound wacky to say for such a cloudy day — I am utterly head over heels for the light in all of these. So soft and smooth and pretty, and allowing us to shoot in every direction our hearts desired! It started sprinkling right at the end of the session, but Kat & Ryan persevered in the name of good photos saying, “let’s keep shooting a little more”, because they are LE AWESOME.

Completely beside myself with excitement for their wedding at Inn of the Seventh Ray (read: one of my favorite venues IN THE HISTORY OF VENUES) this fall!

For the second part of Joann + Donald’s session {see part I here!}, we headed down to the beach to chase the last of the afternoon’s golden light. They brought along a bunch of the prettiest pastel balloons – I’ve done quite a few fun balloon sessions & I know we’ve all seen lots of lovely versions on the interwebs, but I loved Joann & Donald’s idea to place them around in the sand for a different look. Pops of color galore!

A big thank you to Love and Lavender for featuring their session!

A lovely hand-painted straw heart, a sweet picnic, dainty tea cups, puzzle pieces {from a puzzle they started on their very first date!}… there are quite a few words that could describe this detail-filled engagement session, but the first that comes to mind is…

EPIC.

So epic, in fact, that it had to be split into two posts, the second which I guarantee is filled with as much epic-ness as the first. I feel like I’m always being blown away by the creativity of my couples and their desire to incorporate personal & colorful tidbits into their weddings and engagement sessions – and Joann and Donald are no exception!

So excited for their amazing Langham wedding this weekend!