Wow! This year has flown by SO fast! I seriously can’t believe that we are already in the midst of summer. Forgive me friends for being so bad at blogging! Being a steady blogger is definitely forever on my #goals list. But better late than never, right?

I’m so excited to show you guys these photos because it’s one of my favorite engagement sessions ever! Maria and Stephen are one of the coolest couples I’ve had the pleasure of photographing. Their personalities complement each other so well and it’s just a no brainer that they’d be soulmates. We had such a great time exploring Downtown Los Angeles!

“Maria has many amazing qualities about her: compassionate, quirky, funny, but to me, her best quality is the radiating love that Maria gives not only to me, but to all others around her. Maria gives 100% of herself to make sure others feel warm, fuzzy, and comfortable when she is around. She seamlessly transfers these characteristics to being a professional teacher, enriching the lives of young adults, along with being a loving daughter, brother, friend, and soon…wife!”

“Stephen won my attention with his authentic laughter and toothy smile. After our friendship began to grow into a relationship, I fell in love with the way his eyes crinkle and close when he is truly enjoying himself (which is often). His frequent smiles and laughs are due to his open personality that makes people around him feel welcome and comfortable. His easy way to get family, friends, and strangers to have fun is due to this considerate friendly personality. I feel so lucky that I can now be the source of that winning smile, which is irresistibly contagious to me and makes me love him so much.”

“To say Maria has positively changed my life would be an understatement! Maria has always pushed me to become better than my past self in my career, personal, and social life, and has kept me grounded when I am in a low spot. She has taught me to not always compete to see who can win argument, but to find common ground to make sure that both her and I move forward together in the right direction.”

“Since the beginning of our relationship, Stephen has always recognized and loved my natural self and praised me for what he loves about me. His never-ending support for my goals and his recognition of my hard-working personality to care for others has always reassured me that I now know what love and respect truly means in a happy relationship. He is a good person and I feel I have met my match and life-partner in every aspect, down to what we care about and feel is most important in our lives. He helps me stay motivated by reminding me my self-worth and I feel truly equal when we are together. I believe that I can influence my students best, as well as eventually raise the best children, based on our understanding relationship full with respect and love that we give each other as a couple.”

The Proposal // “I had no idea that Stephen was preparing to propose during this trip, although there was a large importance with this trip being our first international trip as a couple, so I should have seen it coming, especially since we were to travel during cherry blossom season to many romantic locations. Early in our trip we averaged miles of walking and I easily found every excuse to sit down. At a national park, Stephen and I spent two hours enjoying pictures around the towering cherry blossom trees but as park visitors began to leave, Stephen suggested that I take a break while he sneaked off to ask a young Japanese couple to take photos during his proposal. Not knowing that this impromptu photo shoot was going to lead to a proposal, I whispered to Stephen behind a tight grin why our stranger photographer was taking more photos than was necessary. This is when Stephen turned to me and knelt down on his knee to ask me to marry him with love-teary eyes, which of course I said yes!”

“Cherry blossom season only lasts a few weeks where these large trees blossom beautiful, pink blossoms before they disappear for the rest of the year. I thought it would be romantic to propose during this time since it would represent our lives being together for our short time in this world. I proposed under a sea of these trees at Shinjuku Gyoen Park on April 5, 2017 and we’ve been preparing our wedding since that day!”

Maria + Stephen, I am SO excited and so blessed to be documenting your wedding day TOMORROW!  (Better late than never. remember?)

Happy Friday!