When I first pulled up to the engagement session and saw Kristy & Harnnull’s huge smiles, I thought, okay this session is going to be awesome. And then they showed me their killer outfits (how perfect are the beach ones??) and I thought, oh yes, definitely awesome. And then they were like, well here’s our ridiculously cute dog, and we also brought this beautiful vintage bike, and we’re just going to laugh a lot in our photos, and be all super duper in love, and totally trust you, and by the way, in case that wasn’t enough, as a parting gift, here are some MACARONS, oh, just because we know you like them.

Um, dear Kristy & Harnnull, you are the very type of people that made me want to start doing this whole wedding photography thing in the first place. Your love and your smiles inspire me. You session made me want to get home as fast as possible so I could look at these photos on the computer. You make me feel so lucky that I get to meet amazing people like you, through this thing I call “work”. I had so much fun with you both – to say I’m excited for your wedding this summer is an understatement! :)

Jess is a friend of mine from oh, maybe the 1st grade? We used to make “green tea” with mint leaves (plus a bunch of other questionable stuff) from my backyard and try to feed it to our younger sisters. She always had the most epic birthday parties and perhaps even let me copy her geometry homework once or twice (SCREW YOU PROOFS). I would like to compare Jess to Mary Poppins, in that she’s practically perfect in every way. She is ridiculously smart, horribly sweet, fabulously silly, abundantly kind, and a great friend.

So when she first told me about Rich, I may have been a bit skeptical. Because who could be so perfect for such a perfect person? But upon hearing about him and meeting him I realized that he somehow also is smart, and sweet, and silly, and kind, and most of all makes Jess endlessly happy. The proof (NOT THE GEOMETRY KIND) is in the photos. In the way he’s gazing at her in this one. The way she’s laughing in that one. Their whole engagement session was so joyful, so personal, so real.

It may have helped that we shot in a wonderful little Italian restaurant {La Sosta Enoteca – oh the light! the rustic chairs! those billowy curtains!} in Hermosa Beach, where they had many of their first dates and first memories. Or that Rich brought along his two awesome daughters (be sure to scroll down!) for the second half of the session on the beach.

As I always hope for in engagement sessions, this one did seem so them – practically perfect in every way :)

There are a lot of beautiful things I saw during the afternoon I spent with Tori & Kate in and around their home. A cozy living room with bright cheery posters. A sun-drenched kitchen. Colorful berries atop homemade vegan pancakes. Matching aprons. A wall of hearts. Sweet terriers and cuddly cats.

But the most beautiful thing? By far?

Was love.

Because this is love you see in these photos. That giddy giggly kind of love. That connected souls kind of love. That feels-like-home, best-friend, you-really-really-get-me kind of love.

I’m counting all my lucky stars that Tori’s sister found me online through Green Wedding Shoes and gifted this session to Tori & Kate. Because of her I was able to meet two amazing ladies and capture a glimmer of their lives together :) These kinds of homey sessions are still always my favorites and this one is no exception… it makes my heart so so happy.

{ Thank you to Green Wedding Shoes, one of my most favorite blogs, for featuring this session! Check out the post here! }