To celebrate Elyssa & Curtis's engagement, we traveled around Bellingham for a three-part engagement session.  We started at Baby Greens downtown and then dashed into Lafeen's Donuts as the temperatures dropped and the rain started to fall.  Lafeen's has the best donuts in town, perfect for a date with a special someone.  If you're looking for a fun dessert option at your wedding, Lafeen's does large orders, too!  We picked up 10 boxes for our own wedding and let's just say there weren't any leftovers.  :)

Madison wanted a winter mountain shoot, and that's exactly what we gave her!  If these two look familiar, it's because I've had the joy of photographing them four times over the past few years for their engagement, wedding, and first wedding anniversary.  They've told me a dozen times now how much they value photography, and it really shows.  They treat each session like a date and embrace whatever I throw their way.  I'm so thankful that photography brought them into my life, and I look forward to many years of friendship and memories together!

Samantha, Tony, and I had so much fun getting to know each other at their engagement session!  When we were emailing back and forth about their wedding plans, they really emphasized how much they love Bellingham's coastline and water views.  Larrabee was the perfect spot for their autumn engagement photos!  We talked about how they met, fell in love, got engaged in Disneyland, and their excitement for their upcoming wedding, and I don't think I had to ask them to smile once.  ;)  I've really enjoyed seeing Sam and Tony share their favorite images as they count down to May, so here's a handful of my favorites, too!

In addition to Erika being my go-to hair stylist, Erika and Chris are both partial owners of their family business, Appel Farms. When we talked about a location for their anniversary portraits, they knew there was no place they'd be happier than at their farm. They brought their dogs, we threw a few sticks, and left with a huge gallery of photos and some sweet memories, too. If you love dogs and golden hour, this blog is for you!

Erika styled her hair herself, and her sister-in-law Beauty by Elizabeth Marie did a gorgeous job on her golden makeup. I couldn't recommend them more for your next portrait session or wedding!

We photographed Lauren and Dane's Bellingham backyard wedding in September 2017, and this year we got to celebrate their first wedding anniversary with an autumn portrait session at Bellewood Acres!  I have to admit: we all laughed when we pulled into the parking lot and it was so foggy we couldn't see the entrance, but I knew it'd be gorgeous. I assured them that their session would be dreamy and magical, and that if the fog became too thick we could wait it out inside over some hot cider.  Lauren and Dane fully embraced the fog and the fun—skipping through the pumpkin patch, dancing in the corn fields, and even playing some catch in the orchards.  Scroll to see some of my favorites!

When I heard Jordan and Marco got engaged, I really hoped I'd get the chance to take their photos! To my excitement, they reached out to book an engagement session at their favorite little park, Zuanich.  We set plans for September, and they ended up eloping just a couple weeks prior to our shoot.  ;)  So call it an engagement session, or a "we just got married" session, but either way, these photos are so full of the joy they share together, and I'm so glad I got to spend an hour laughing and running around the waterfront with them. The sun broke out two minutes before their session on an otherwise cloudy and stormy day, giving us bright light, dark clouds in the distance, and a whole lot of waves!

The new Baby Greens plant shop was our first stop on this three-part Bellingham engagement session!  Elyssa is one of my very best friends, and it's been such a joy getting to know Curtis and seeing how happy they are together.  It only takes a few minutes with these two to realize they were made for each other, and I can't wait to watch them get married!

When one of my best friends from junior high started posting photos of him and his new girlfriend, I knew I needed to get them in front of my camera.  I love photographing many kinds of love and a spectrum of personalities, but wow this couple session had my heart singing!!  Keegan and Tara are sweet, silly, and ridiculously in love--all of my favorite things!

We danced under cherry blossom trees at Saint Edwards Park, ran through the grass, and hiked  through the trails down to Lake Washington.  I hadn't seen Keegan in about four years, and we hadn't really known each other since high school.   There's something so incredibly special about seeing your childhood friends truly happy, and you can bet I fought back some happy tears while shooting and editing this session for them.

Tara is heading out on a year and a half long mission trip, so I put together one of my long distance sets for the two of them, packaged it with love, and sent it off for them to hang onto in this time apart.  Here are just some of my favorites!

Cydni and Antonio wanted to shoot "rain or shine" for their April engagement session at Bellingham's Whatcom Falls. We ended the hour together muddy and wet, but we went into it with an adventure mindset and had a blast!  Scroll down to take a look through their sweet walk in the woods.

Remember Jimmy and Madison's Puyallup wedding and Larrabee State Park engagement session?  These two have become friends of mine over the years of photographing their special moments, and I am seriously so excited to watch them grow old together.  If you know these two, then you also know they treat each other with so much love, respect and appreciation it's ridiculous.  Everyone deserves to find someone who loves them the way Jimmy and Madison love each other.  They also treat each photo session like a date--because it really should be--and they make a full day of it.  They drove all the way up to Bellingham for the weekend, spent the morning with Elizabeth Marie Makeup and Crowns of Gold styling, enjoyed a one year anniversary session around Deception Pass State Park, and took each other out to dinner.  Now THAT is how you celebrate an anniversary.  Looking forward to many more photos with these two!  Here are just a handful of my favorites...