It was supposed to rain this day – something like an 80% chance, all throughout the bay area. And even though we had been planning this session for weeks (with clear weather and pretty outdoor locations in mind) Vicky and Brian didn’t let the forecast dampen their spirits, instead opting to collect a bunch of colorful cute umbrellas, brainstorm some backup ideas, and roll with it.

But what do you know? I arrive at the airport, step outside, and not a raindrop in sight. As we drove over to Stanford for the session, the sun even began to peek through. The umbrellas stayed in the car, and these pretty springtime images are what we got :)

On a sunny spring day last year, I flew up to and back from Napa, and in the middle, photographed this amazing session at the French Laundry gardens.

But let’s start from the beginning shall we? Steph and Bruce are both big foodies and really wanted to incorporate this shared passion for food into their engagement session. After some brainstorming, they arranged for us to photograph at the beautiful gardens of Thomas Keller’s French Laundry restaurant {year after year named one of the best restaurants in the world}. The French Laundry grows much of its own produce in a vegetable garden across from their restaurant, and it was a treat wandering through the open gardens photographing this sweet couple. Aside from vibrant flowers and veggies they brought to add color to the session (adore!), they had a handful of pretty macarons — they have special memories of sharing these together in Paris, where they were engaged, as well as baking their own versions (amazing!) at home.

I could go on and on about the loveliness of this session, and how much fun Steph and Bruce are, and how we talked about food all day long, and how we laughed & chatted more over dinner at Bouchon, and how it all makes my heart want to explode into a million pieces of happy confetti, but I’m going to let the images do the talking. Enjoy this afternoon stroll in the garden… :)

{ Thank you to Style Me Pretty for featuring this session on their California blog! You can see the post here… }