Though sparks didn't fly immediately between A + E when they first met, slowly A managed to melt her heart through the course of a semester over college and they became best of friends. 4 years later, A reached out for help planning his Big Sur proposal. Having never been to the California coast, I showed him some of my favorite hidden gems and we set a plan to secretly find each other at the trailhead. Though smoke and fires had just hit the area a few weeks before, luckily we ended up with a stunning sunset and incredible crazy waves over the rocks. Check out their sweet and emotional Big Sur proposal below!

When T first reached out, we started laughing about how similar our stories were. T + J both grew up in the Bay Area like my husband and I did, started dating just before leaving for college in the same year that we did, and spent our first few years doing long distance. He even went to SJSU and studied business like my husband, coincidentally also where I had studied for graduate school as well. Having run in many of the same social circles, we even realized we shared mutual friends!

For T + B, the mountains have always been where they called home. They spent their weekends training for triathlons and backpacking in Yosemite - T even backpacked the John Muir Trail a month before the wedding! What better way to spend their first day as newlyweds than at Mt. Rainier, where they had their first date snowshoeing there. We spent the day after their wedding adventuring up the trail and had the best time battling in an intense snowball fight, watching marmots sploot and nom on all the wildflowers, and watching the sun set over the mountains. Check out the rest of their adventure session below!

Need Napa proposal ideas? You can't go wrong with a 13th century Tuscan castle winery tucked in Napa Valley. When someone accidentally said “Congratulations” too early - before the proposal had even happened - A thought it was a little odd but continued on their tour. After their tour was over, they walked back over to the drawbridge for some quick photos where T surprised her with a proposal. Even the 105 degree heat wave couldn’t stop them from rocking their engagement photos. Check out the rest of T + A's Castello di Amorosa proposal below!

When R told me that he was surprising his girlfriend with a trip to California, I was so excited to show them around some of my favorite hidden gems in Big Sur! He had proposed to her privately the day before with no one else around, and followed that surprise with an engagement session to celebrate. We had perfect weather - far better than the humid weather they were used to - and climbed up all the epicsides for the most epic views. Check out the rest of their engagement session below!

As a Bay Area local, Santa Cruz has always been one of my favorite getaways to coast. With the coastal vibe, small shops, and artisan community, it was the perfect place to adventure with A + A for their engagement session. We started their session in the redwoods, where I took them on a short hike to one of my favorite hidden gems, then headed out to the coast to catch the sunset. Though we ran into a few issues - including the whole rocky area of the beach being covered by kelp and a wardrobe malfunction (luckily right at the end of the session) - it didn't stop these two from just laughing with each other and having fun!

Having just moved to San Jose, S + D wanted to capture their engagement session in the Bay Area to document their new home. The redwood trees perfectly fit their vibe, so I recommended to them one of my favorite local gems. And how cool are their all-black outfits?! Check out their redwood engagement and family session below!

Who's ready to move to the Santa Cruz Mountains with me? C + Z adventured with me to one of my favorite hidden gems - you wouldn't know it from searching for redwood locations in Santa Cruz, but just down this little known path are towering redwoods everywhere you look. Check out the rest of their engagement session below!

Sometimes life gets in the way, and instead of getting to adventuring to the coast on your birthday weekend like you planned, things go awry. J + A had booked a cute getaway on the March weekend we planned to capture their engagement session, and of course it ended up raining on us. We planned to reschedule a few weeks later, and then the COVID shutdown hit. Months later, the stars finally aligned and J was able to get her hair, makeup, and nails done (and of course right before everything shut down again, good timing!) Despite the slightly larger crowds than we expected, they didn't let it faze them and we even made it back up to the coast in time for a few quick moments before sunset. Check out the rest of their session below!

Anyone else ever find their couple twin? When V + M first reached out, I immediately fell in love with their vision of a whimsical, magical forest wedding. The moment they mentioned that they were thinking about walking down the aisle to Lord of the Rings, I was in - one of the special touches we had chosen for our own wedding was walking down the aisle to Concerning Hobbits. As we chatted over ideas and got to know each other through the months, we couldn't have shared more similarities, from travelling to the same places, down to even coincidentally cooking the same exact Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup recipe during quarantine (here it is in case you're curious, 10/10 would recommend). So I had no doubt that we would have the best time when we finally got to meet and capture their engagement session in the Santa Cruz redwoods! Check out the rest of their engagement session below.