Angela and John met at a taekwondo studio. Angela’s very first impression of John was that he was cute, but also incredibly intimidating. Intimidating despite the fact that she was the teacher and he was the student. And despite the fact that she had conquered 3 degrees of blackbelt and had competed in national and world championships. Her sparring record and perfect form was all no match for the tall and intimidating student in her class, and Angela decided she would have nothing to do with approching him anytime soon.

And then one fateful day, Angela was working in the studio office and in entered a slightly disgruntled John. An accidental $700 overcharge on a class is hardly ever a good thing, but in this case, it was the very thing that sparked their first conversation, their relationship, and then their love. The studio’s little error brought together two people who are ridiculously perfect together and will be marrying this May at San Juan Capistrano Mission!

They love the entire area, so we decided to do their engagement session in San Juan Capistrano as well, spending time at the train depot and the little colorful houses that line the road behind it. I love the light, the colors, and all the little spots we found!

Where to start? I always encourage couples to personalize their engagement session, think of something unique, bring a prop or two… but Dawn & Craig took it to an entirely different (and amazingly wonderful) level!

In our email exchanges, Dawn sent me the idea of a vintage picnic session that combined all of their favorite things, and we immediately took off on a mad brainstorming session. The result had me giddy with excitement – the perfect sun-kissed location, a picnic basket (complete with a baguette!), vintage sodas, books, cupcakes from Frostings (links to a wonderfully written review by Dawn), and a bouquet of bright yellow flowers. The finishing touch was their custom-made bicycles – Craig goes biking daily and they have over 15 (fifteen!) at their home (as Dawn puts it, the bikes multiply like rabbits).

From our very first meeting, where Dawn and I chatted about folding cranes (she’s folding 1000 for the wedding!), our shared hapa roots, travel, music, and food (Dawn & Craig met working at Roy’s – what a deliciously romantic way to meet!), I felt like they would be the perfect couple for us, and can’t WAIT for their wedding in December! It’s going to a beautiful and fresh wintery-wonderland affair!

Special thanks to Ruffled for featuring this session!

Valentine’s Day – a wonderful opportunity to consume massive amounts of chocolate, but more importantly, a time to celebrate finding your better half and a chance spend the day with the one you love. And for Heather and Joe, the very start of a special relationship – a date that turned into a fantastic love, that morphed into an engagement, and will soon be a marriage. They will be getting married on Valentine’s Day of next year and I could not be more excited for their wedding!

We met in Laguna Beach for their engagement session and ran around the shops and the shoreline until the sun began to set. I had done a session in Laguna a few weeks prior, and I loved the challenge of finding new nooks and corners and watching the session unfold as a reflection of their relationship. I am a firm believer that even if the backdrop is similar, a session is made unique by each couple and this one definitely has Heather & Joe written all over it! :)

Isn’t Heather stunning? Her make-up and hair were done by Beauty and the Beach.