We Only Met 3 Months Ago at a California Beach Wedding
Marisa, Elias and I met at a wedding earlier this year in July that I was shooting along the Santa Cruz coast. They were guests attending their friend's wedding and we got to meet and chat throughout the evening. A month later to the day, an inquiry landed in my inbox from Marisa and Elias! We setup a Zoom meeting for 2 days later where we had our consultation to go over their wedding day vision. Then, less than a week later, they made things official!
Ready, Set...Maui Bound ✈️ 🌺
During our Consultation, they mentioned they had a trip to Maui in 2 months and had planned on doing Engagement Photos then since they wanted to use them for their Save The Dates.
I casually reminded them, "You know...if you book with me, there is an Engagement Session included your package, right?"
Why have an Engagement Session included in each of my Wedding Packages? It's an important step in creating a foundational relationship with each of my couples. Getting a chance to work together prior to their Wedding Date is important because it helps couples get comfortable with me, my posing style, directions, and prompts, gives us the opportunity to learn each others' communication styles, and is a safe space to communicate any insecurities or preferred angles/sides in photos. Then, once my couples get their galleries back, they can then communicate with me which shots and poses were their favorites! This way, couples feel more comfortable with me on their wedding day plus portraits go so much smoother since they already know my workflow.
Once Marisa and Elias said YES to booking with me, we all said YES to booking our flights to Maui for their Engagement Session!

A Little Rainforest and A Little Beach Vibes
Marisa and Elias had a very specific vision for their Engagement Session. At first, Marisa mentioned a beach near them. I know Maui a little bit and knew the area was going to be super busy. I found some blog with photoshoots there and they all looked similar and not exactly the type of location that matched my style or portfolio.
I like to choose locations that aren't as populated and allow for some gorgeous wide shots of the landscape with my couples super small. The original location they mentioned I knew was going to be populated on the day they wanted to do it and so we looked at other options.
The idea of a Maui Forest came up and I could just tell it was more than just an idea, it was the idea. Everybody does photos at the beach in Hawaii, but what about the other parts of the island? Hawaii is so much more than just beaches and I was stoked they wanted to explore more of the island and be a bit more adventurous!
So to this I said...why not do both? So naturally, we did both. And boy oh boy did their love shine throughout this entire session!
From Climbing Trees to Freely Running into the Ocean
At the end of their session, Marisa looked at me and said, "Thank you for giving us the shoot of our dreams." To which I replied, "Thank YOU for giving me the shoot of MY DREAMS!"
Needless to say, it was a dream session for all of us 🥹
Check out the sneakiest of peeks from Marisa + Elias' Maui Rainforest + Beach Engagement Session below🌺

Maui Rainforest + Beach Engagement Session














