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!

Meenah & Shaobo live in Norcal and booked me after a meeting on Skype, so I was super excited to meet them in person for the first time at their engagement session! For their session, they suggested a sweet seaside beach picnic, complete with lots of pops of color and fun beachy activities. I’ve seen picnic engagement sessions before but never on a beach – I love the summery casual feel the sand & the sea lent to this session!

They drove down to LA with a car full of colorful candies (confetti-inspired shots galore!), bubbles, sodas, and two of the loveliest fabric kites I had ever seen, handcrafted beautifully by Meenah. They didn’t quite fly, but with the general selection of Batman/pirate/the Hulk-themed kites out there, this was an excellent decision of form over function :)

I loved this fun summertime session & am SO excited for their beautiful vineyard wedding this fall!

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!