Ryan’s cousin Steven has always talked about how much he admires our marriage.  Being a part of our wedding day at a fairly young age made a big impression on him I think.  He saw the kind of love that we share and knew that he wanted the same for himself someday.  After spending some time on Saturday with he and Chantel, his bride-to-be, I’m very certain that he’s found the one.  Chantel & Steven are one of those couples that you spend a little time with and you can’t help but say to yourself, “Yep.  These two were made for each other.”  Chantel is definitely the jelly to Steven’s peanut butter :-)  They compliment each other so well.  We had so much fun finding out what an amazing woman Chantel is and seeing the romantic side of Steven.  He’s no longer just our smart and silly cousin, he’s a man in love.

(Please sign the guestbook if you’d like to be notifed when the rest of their photos are online.)

Their engagement session was actually a gift from Steven’s mom Linda (also known as our fabulous aunt), so we actually knew that we’d be hanging out with them even before THEY did!  These two met at the dorms at Arizona State University so that’s where we headed to start the session.  This first one was taken right outside Steven’s old dorm room where they had their first kiss.  So cute!

We were a little worried that Steven would feel weird being all cute in front of us, but we found out pretty quickly that wouldn’t be the case.  They were affectionate the whole day!

Our second stop was a beautiful and serene garden in another part of the campus.  There’s just something about Chantel’s playful feet that makes me love this one.  I know . . . I’m weird.

Steven: you scored yourself one gorgeous gal!  Well done!

You’re not lookin’ too bad yourself there cuz!

This is one of my favorites from the whole session :-)

There were so many fun backdrops to shoot on campus!  We had a blast wandering around together and hearing all their fun memories from each place.

Next we headed to downtown Phoenix to relive a few engagement night memories with the lovebirds.  And as you probably already guessed, I was super excited when Chantel whipped out these AWESOME yellow heels!

The night Steven proposed, they went to see a show at the Orpheum Theater and then took a walk down to the Arizona Center.  In this very spot just a week earlier, they stood underneath the thousands of sparkling lights, and he asked her to marry him.  And of course, she said yes!  Our little Steven is such a romantic!

Just love the emotion in this shot.

I couldn’t decide between these two – I just love them both!  And for the record, we didn’t ask Chantel to run around downtown without her shoes on.  It was actually her idea after walking a few blocks and they just happened to make awesome props for the photos!

Brilliant colors to compliment a equally, if not more brilliant couple :-)  If you’ve never had a chance to check out the Orpheum Theater before, you should.  It’s an amazing 1920′s building with incredible details and architecture.

A-dor-a-ble!

This one is probably my absolute favorite.  There’s just something about the whole scene that is just perfect.

Couldn’t pass up the chance for a little silliness too!  Now THAT’S more like the Steven we know!

On our way back towards the car, we arrived at this intersection just in time to do a couple quick shots as the Light Rail sped past.  Love the motion of the train.

Click the slideshow button below for more images of this GREAT couple!

Steven & Chantel: we had a blast hanging out with you guys!  Thanks for letting us capture your sweet love for each other :-)  Can’t wait to watch you two become man & wife and enter into the most exciting journey of your lives.  We love you guys!

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Last Saturday we spent the day wandering around Jerome with Audrey & Aaron shooting their engagement session. It was one of those times where we were reminded how awesome our job is :-) I mean seriously, how cute are these two? Sorry Aaron, I know that all this “cute” talk might do some serious damage to your street cred, but I just can’t see any way around it. Love will do that to you buddy! You’re just going to have to blame it on your sweet fiance.

“He had me at Purple Rain.” According to Audrey, one of her first memories of Aaron was him belting out a seriously sad Prince tune while working on a class project at University of Phoenix. Her response to his sad little serenade was to say, “Wow. Never do that again!” And of course, as it so often does, this seemingly insignificant exchange of playful banter was just the beginning of a wonderful love story.

(Please sign the guestbook if you’d like to be notifed when the rest of their photos are online.)

Audrey – you’re adorable!

I love the expressive feet that Audrey was rockin’ in this next shot . . . not to mention the stylin’ black heels!

I couldn’t decide between these two so I just had to post them both.

At one point we asked them to walk down this stair case so we could shoot them walking back up hand in hand. They got about half way down and then flashed us this little pose :-) I love it! One of my favorites from the whole day! Workin’ the BLUE STEEL!!! For those of you who have not seen Zoolander, you’re missing out. It’s hilarious!

Silliness immediately followed by sweetness :-)

As you can tell, there was a good amount of laugher happening. You just can’t help but love these guys, right?

We stopped in an artsy little shop for a quick change and a little “Mojo To Go” . . .

But of course, we couldn’t miss out on a few shots before heading back out.

Totally love the way Audrey & Aaron are looking at each other in these two and the way the images mirror each other so well.

Back to the streets to soak up some more of Jerome’s small town charm.

Totally love the edgy feel and angle of this next shot. How awesome is it when a couple can go from model serious one moment . . .

. . . to hilariousness the next! Oh yeah! :-) They balance each other perfectly.

There are just so many cool places in this town!

I just love the textures of the red door – even in black and white, it adds so much interest to the image.

This one has to be my favorite of the entire day! They were having so much fun together and that makes our jobs so easy.

It only seems right to end with one more shot that includes a little more playfulness. So fun you guys!

There are so many more great images from this session so make sure to click on the “view slideshow” button below! And just a reminder to all of our readers – we love comments so leave us some!

To Audrey & Aaron: we can’t wait to be a part of your big day! You guys were so much fun and we had a blast spending time with you. It’s gonna be awesome!

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Jess & Justin are the perfect example of why we love when our couples are on Facebook.   Within a week of booking us for their wedding photography back in December, the four of us were commenting on each other’s status updates and thoroughly enjoying our new found “online friendships” :-)  It’s been so fun to discover all the things we have in common!  When we started to brainstorm locations for their engagement session, it become pretty clear that these two didn’t want their photos to be typical.  They really wanted to include the things that they love and that says something about them.  So it was only appropriate that we started the session at their home in Chandler.

(Please sign the guestbook if you’d like to be notifed when the rest of their photos are online.)

Shooting in someone’s home is always unique.  You get to discover a whole different side of people when you see what type of artwork they have on their walls, what type of furniture they sit on, what movies and books are on their shelves . . . nothing tells a couple’s story more than the place where they live.

One thing that Jess & Justin really love is their pets.  As soon as we walked in, their dog Penny (soooooo sweet) and two cats Einstein & Cisco were extremely interested in what we were doing.  And of course, they thought that the photo shoot was all about them!  I think this next shot says it all.  Hello Penny.  Love it!

She loves to read and cook.  He’s an Apple man with a love of all things “techie”.  A match made in photo heaven :-)

Another appearance by one of the “kids” . . .

One of my favs :-)  Super sweet you guys!

Lemonade anyone?  We just couldn’t pass up this fun lemon tree in the backyard.  And of course, Penny had to get in on the action too.

For our next location we headed over to the Desert Botanical Garden.  When we arrived, it was a beautiful Arizona day.  A bit overcast, but perfect for a nice stroll in the garden . . . and some cuddling too!

At one point, Justin wispered something in Jess’ ear and what followed was a good 2-3 minutes of hysterical laugher.  Such a fun moment (as soon as I realized they weren’t laughing at me of course!)

Love this shot!  Jess you look amazing!  You’re going to be such a beautiful bride.

As you may have noticed, there’s a bit of a size difference between these two!  Justin actually said at the beginning of the day that he was worried they look like Shrek and Princess Fiona together!  Justin, if you mean that you’re an adorable and completely loveable pair that’s totally meant to be, than I guess we have to agree.  Notice the tiptoes . . .

All of a sudden it started to drizzle and as we started to head for cover, it really started to rain!  We ended up spending  some time camped out under the patio of the “staff only” building waiting for it to stop.  After about half an hour of killing time we decided to abandon the garden and head for the great indoors.  Before heading for a rather moist speed walk to our cars, Jess & Justin braved the drizzle for one last shot.  The desert is always so lovely when it’s wet.

Plan B: Barnes & Nobel Bookstore!  Jess & Justin have been known to spend some time here . . . and it was dry so that was pretty appealing :-)

Awwww . . . I’m totally reminded of that Jimmy Buffett song, “Love in the Library” :-)  Except that the characters in the song don’t actually meet, or even speak to each other, and we were not technically in a library . . . ok it’s actually not like that song at all, but there are books, right?

Hangin’ out in in the Sci-Fi section.  Did I mention that Jess & Justin are going to Comic Con on their honeymoon?  Yep, they ARE that awesome!

One last shot:  this one just makes me smile :-)  Adorable!

Jess & Justin, we had a blast hanging out with you guys (and the rest of your cute and furry family!)  We can’t wait to be a part of your wedding day!  And I’m sure there will be many tasty food adventures in our future! ;-)

Make sure you click the slideshow button below to view more photos from their session!

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