Lauren + Paul ⎢ Idyllwild, CA Engagement Session

I have to back up a bit and give you a little background to this session and couple! I have known Paul for several years as he was one of my coworkers at my previous job doing corporate events. He was the General Counsel at my company aka the lawyer guy! Ever since I had known Paul I also knew Lauren as they have been together for a long time. We always would joke with Paul in the office and give him a hard time because he always said that him and Lauren would be together for the rest of their lives but getting married wasn’t in the cards for them and that they were on the same page with that idea. Well we never believed him and were convinced that things would change.

Fast forward to this last December 2019, during Christmas time when Paul and Lauren planned a vacation to Thailand. They always took a big vacation at least once a year during this time so that was no surprise, but what DID surprise everyone was that this vacation ended with a ring on Lauren’s finger and the titles of fiance that they now received! To our shock Lauren had posted a photo of her beautiful ring on Instagram and the ost special part is it’s Paul’s grandma’s ring that he passed along to Lauren! HOW SWEET IS THAT!? As much as it was a surprise it also wasn’t at the same time since we always knew in the back of our heads that they would eventually tie the knot officially 😉

By this time I had left my old job to become a full time photographer (separate blog on that coming soon ;)) but Paul had reached out to me to inquire about me taking their engagement photos! Of course it was an easy heck yes so we got to planning! Paul & Lauren had owned a cabin up in Idyllwild for a couple of years before selling it last year. Idyllwild was a place they favored and it held a lot of memories for them. Eventhough they sold their cabin, the new owners basically turned keyed it and still rented it out just as Lauren & Paul had when they owned it. So they decided to rent it back for a weekend in late February and we scheduled their engagement photos for that Saturday evening.

Well as the day was approaching for their photos, the weather started to change and was predicting heavy snow on Saturday. The morning of the shoot Paul had called me as they needed to make a decision of whether we would just risk it or not and luckily I had the next day free so we agreed that it would be better to hold off until the next morning rather than me trying to get up the mountain in a snow storm since it was coming down and they were already up there to witness it. And let me tell you…it could not have been MORE PERFECT! There was still some snow on the ground but the sun was coming out and there was even some cool fog that rolled in. We started at this nearby lake tucked in the Idyllwild mountains then we headed towards the Idyllwild Nature Center to capture a few photos and then ended at what used to be their cabin!

The best part of this whole shoot is we totally captured THEM as a couple! They love adventuring, hiking, the mountain environment, cooking, and of course hanging out with their pup, Justice (how fitting is that name for a lawyer’s dog!?) so naturally we had to include her in the shoot too! When we got back to the cabin they wanted to capture some photos of what they normally do while they are up there including whipping up some breakfast, hanging out in the kitchen, and playing card games so we did exactly that! It was such a fun day frolicking around this cute little mountain town with these two love birds and I am so happy for them. They will be sealing the deal this fall in the San Francisco area where Lauren’s family is from!

And I look forward to the day I get to go back and shoot up in Idyllwild! So if you are wanting photos up there I AM YOUR GIRL! 😉

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