Last Sunday, Ryan and I met up with Chris and Lauren in Old Town Scottsdale to do their engagement session.  They are both SUCH naturals – not to mention being ridiculously good looking :-)  After about an hour with them, we felt like we’d all known each other for years!  We had SO much fun!  Their personalities and chemistry really shine through the photos and I doubt that we could be any happier with the way they turned out.  SEROUSLY can’t wait to shoot their wedding in March!!!  The only sad moment of the day was when they told us that they’re going to be moving to San Francisco after the wedding . . . tear :-(

Ok, enough talk – on to the photos! You know it’s going be a good day when you get this kind of a shot within the first 5 minutes!

Lovin’ the hint of reflection in this one . . .

You see what we mean?  TONS of personality!  Too adorable to choose just one :-)

So apparently between Saturday and Sunday it became winter.  It was cold and overcast the whole afternoon (which made for AMAZING light by the way), but Lauren was in this incredibly cute dress and FREEZING.  She seriously had goosebumps the entire shoot!  What a trooper though – just gave her one more reason to snuggle up with Chris :-)

Can you say “adorable”?

One word for this next one: HOT!  They look like a couple of fashion models in one of those magazine ads where you really have no idea what the ad is for except that there are hot models in it.

This may be my favorite shot of the whole day just because it was completely unprompted by us!  We basically said, “Hey! Let’s shoot in front of that awesome red wall!” and this was what they came up with – hilarious!

We may have had a tiny bit of influence on this one . . .

Things did get a little steamy . . . which we absolutely encourage by the way!

Then it was time to get a little more comfy . . .

And a LOT more silly!

So much cuteness :-)

This image is really supposed to be about the ring, but even in the background, these two steal the show!

At the very end of the shoot the sun was setting, but it peaked out from behind the clouds a tiny bit.  We told them that we’d have to act fast to get some sun in and Lauren automatically grabbed Chris and was ready to go with a kiss shot!  LOVE the surprised expression on his face!

CLICK HERE to check out a slideshow with many more images of this adorable couple!

To  Chris & Lauren: we cannot say enough how much fun we had hanging out with you guys!  Can’t wait to watch you guys make it official :-)  And don’t you think for a minute we’re not going to be showing up on your door step in San Francisco with cameras in hand!

Hello Blog readers!

We were recently told by one of our blog readers that they were getting a weird error when they tried to leave us a comment on the blog.  So we ran a little test tonight and found out that there was a technical issue that had disabled the comment function.  If you’ve tried to leave a comment recently, we are SO sorry for the inconvenience!  PLEASE don’t stop leaving comments!  As of now the comment function is back up and running so we’re good to go.  We can’t tell you enough how much we enjoy hearing from our clients and other readers so please continue leaving us the comment love :-)

Ryan & Denise

On Saturday, Ryan and I got the chance to shoot the very special wedding of Linda & Kwei. It was our first Chinese wedding and we really enjoyed observing some of the unique cultural traditions.

Linda and Kwei’s fathers had known each other as schoolmates in China and both familes had since them moved to the states.  When Kwei made the move from Ohio to Arizona, his Dad put him in touch with Linda’s family to help him get settled there. They met, became friends, started dating and ten years later the rest is history! This very sweet couple celebrated their day among family and friends at the Golden Buddah Restuarant located at the Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix. Here are some of our favorites:

The day began at Dolce Salon in Chandler where Linda was getting her hair and makeup done.

Loved all the great colors at Dolce :-)

Linda has the most contagious laugh! I love the interaction between her and her sister in these next two:

And talk about a gorgeous bride . . .

Checking out the final product . . .

Behind the restaurant there was a very cool garden complete with fountains, a Koi Pond and other great details. Here are some portraits of the lovely couple:

Ryan suggested that they show off their dance skills to get warmed up for the reception – we just LOVED how these turned out!

Part of their reception was a traditional tea ceremony where the bride and groom serve tea to the elders in their families. In exchange, they are given small red envelopes containing gifts to represent the families’ blessing on their marriage:

Linda got teary eyed when her parents presented her with some very special jewelry.

Loved this reaction shot during the toasts!

Linda was so embarrassed when Kwei removed the garter from her leg without using any hands!  So cute :-)

Instead of a cake, they served Sprinkles Cupcakes as their reception dessert :-) Even though they didn’t have to cut them, they still enjoyed a little bride-groom tasting.

A few sweet moments from their first dance:

CLICK HERE to watch a slideshow with more great photos from their wedding day!

Thanks Linda & Kwei for letting us be a part of special your day!