Diego & David’s windy & sunny engagement session in Long Beach! THESE TWO!!! Where can I even start? I had SO much fun hanging out with Diego and David in their hometown of Long Beach for their engagement session. Lots of laughs were had as we walked around “The LBC”, doing some “practice” portraits to get them prepared for what wedding portraits will feel like for their big day in September this upcoming year!

I was referred to them by Celia of Pretty Lil Things – owner of the smallest shop in Long Beach! She’s an AMAZING florist who’s helping them with their wedding plans and design and I’m so excited to work with her. I also want to highlight that they’re my very first Groom & Groom couple! I couldn’t wait to revise the Bride Guide I give out to all my brides and create the very first GROOM GUIDE! Since they were my first, I created a personalized one just for them! It’s going to be an amazing day!

Check out some of Celia’s floral details here!

Let me jump back to where I said “practice” real quick. Some big changes are happening over here at KBP, and one of the things I’ve been doing is revising my wedding packages so that EVERY package includes a complimentary engagement session. This past year, I’ve learned how important it is to get-to-know and work with couples whose wedding you’re going to be shooting later on. I’ve noticed a huge difference in wedding day portraits with couples who I’ve taught how to pose, figured out what we like and don’t like, etc. rather than never working with them prior to that. It helps appease nerves and takes the guess-work out of figuring out how to pose a couple you barely know. After an engagement session (if I play my cards right and they don’t think I’m weird haha!), I feel like I’ve definitely gotten to know a couple better and have bonded with them. They’re familiar with how I direct them and familiar with how I pose them. It all comes back to them on the wedding day as I use almost the same techniques we used for the engagement shoot.

Anyway, moving forward, every wedding I book from here on out is going to have a complimentary engagement session for this reason. I’m a big believer in it!

At the end of the day, Diego and David’s windy & sunny engagement session in Long Beach transformed into a romantic cotton candy sunset where we ended with a glass of wine at the bar inside and discussed everything from wedding details to really good smelling men’s cologne! CANNOT WAIT for their big day!