Ashley and Ben came over to our place before their engagement session last weekend and as we (okay, me and Ashley) ate pumpkin muffins, I got to know a little bit more about these high school sweethearts.

The best part was getting to hear their engagement story. Mainly, hearing Ben telling it. For him, every part was a challenge, to finding the right ring, to hiding the right ring, to finding a way to get Ashley up to the Bay Area unsuspecting with her hectic nursing schedule, all so he could propose in their hometown.

See, Ben, he likes to have a good plan. So after 40 failed attempts to contact the private park in Palo Alto where he and Ashley liked to walk to make sure he would be able to get in on the big day – he had to give up on that plan and get the family involved.

Ashley’s brother had to block her car in so Ben would have to pick her up. Ben’s sister then had to call and ask them to fix her “flat tire” out in Palo Alto. After all this, by the time Ashley got out of the car in Palo Alto, Ben just had to ask.

And as she turned to see him down on one knee, it was all worth it.

Ashley – you are just beautiful. And you have good taste (Ashley and I have the exact same car and cheetah iphone case,) clearly.

You guys, I am so thankful for you! Thanks for choosing me. Thank you Thank you a million times.

xoxo,
Em

I went back to look at my old blog. Trying to trace the first comment. I think I found it.

You see, to understand how special this girl is to me, you’d have to look back to the first comment. I was literally 4 weddings in and totally over my head. I didn’t have a clue about this photography thing. And yet here she was, a friend of a friend from UCLA who found her way into my heart with one blog comment.

Dear Emily,
You take beautiful pictures.
Love,
Kim

If you EVER for a minute think that your words, your comment, your encouragement does not mean much. Think again. Because this Kim, she is living proof. This Kim is a beautiful and caring person and 2 years (and LOTS more blog comments later) I could not be more thrilled to be photographing her and the love of her heart, Will.

Will, the peanut butter to her jelly. Will, who likes to think he is grumpy but is actually so funny with his dry wit that you can’t help but want to squeeze him. Except for when he’s watching hockey, then, get out of the room, because the fire comes out.

To get to know Kim on her own, through her blog, and through a few adventures together, has been awesome. But to see her with Will, I got to see her joy really shine. She just glows.

And that my friends…. all that to say… My job here was pretty easy.

To top it off, they decided we should start their engagement sesion with a banana split.

Blog comments and banana splits are my love language.

Hockey is an important part of Will and Kim’s relationship. When I asked Kim what she has learned from being with Will, she said it was how to appreciate sports.

Some men might understand the significance of that answer. And some women might appreciate how cute they look in their Jerseys.

I would say go Penguins…but, I’m a Red Wings girl so I gotta stay true to my guys. Will and Kim understand…

In the backyard of their charming Berkeley home…

And then we hopped over to UC Berkeley, Will’s alma mater. I can safely say Go Bears this time because being a UCLA girl, we are the baby bear that grew out of Berkeley. Anyways…

This is the essence of Kim.

Kim + Will : I’m so excited for your snowy winter wedding in Tahoe!! See you soon.

xoxo,
Em