Kady + Jeff | La Jolla Engagement Session

What's better than a wedding proposal?? Catching it on camera!!!! I was sooooooo excited when Jeff contacted me to surprise his girlfriend with a proposal.  Kady is an AMAZING teacher at my son's school and he adores her.  We all LOVE her!! She knew we were in California and set up a mini session with her boyfriend and his beautiful daughter.  Little did she know that Jeff had other plans!! This beautiful little family is going to be getting married in October and I could not be happier for them!! 

We shot this session at one of my favorite beaches in La Jolla.  There is something magical about the rocks jetting out into the ocean and the waves crashing against them! 

If you know me, you know that I am horrible at keeping secrets!! I wear my emotions on my face and I am so thankful I did not give away this surprise!!! I told Kady that I wanted to get a photo of them out on the rock....and that is when Jeff got down on his knee!! Her reaction was priceless!! I was honored to be able to capture such an incredible moment for them! They even had some fans cheering for them up on the cliff! It was truly magical!!! 

Congratulations Kady and Jeff!! 

Here is their story: 

"Kady was starting her second semester at Northern Arizona University when she was faced with a dilemma; to attend the Kappa Sigma party or not to attend. Jeff was in Flagstaff visiting his good friends who were part of that very fraternity and were the ones who invited Kady. She decided to brave the snow and go to her first party solo as her besties were out of town. Almost as soon as she walked in she was introduced to Jeff. The first thing she said to him was that he had a beautiful daughter, having seen pictures of his then nineteen month old on a friends phone. Jeff could hardly resist Kady's good looks (it was snowing, but she was still pulling off some great cleavage) and sweet demeanor. It wasn't long after they took shots of SoCo Lime chased by Vitamin Water that the flirting began. The night ended with them cuddled up against a dresser, hiding from the police who inevitably came to break up the party with some serious Facebook stalking in the near future.

Flash forward five years of long distance, some drama, break ups and reconciliations later.

Once Kady graduated from NAU with her degree in education she relocated back to the valley of the sun. Not long after the two moved in together. Jeff finished his schooling and became an Radiology tech and guess where he got a job? That's right, Flagstaff! So now they were back to having a long distance relationship from Flag to Phx only this time Jeff was the one headed north. Luckily this only lasted for about five months and Jeff was able to find something a little closer to home. In fact both only work five minutes from home. Kady and Jeff were finally able to settle down, living the life of luxury and domestication.

They began to speak often about the next step of their relationship. So when they took a trip to Las Vegas in the spring Kady thought maybe this would be it, but she learned you don't always get lucky in Vegas. Once summer break started they took a little staycation at a local, fancy resort. Again Kady thought maybe this time; she checked out of that hotel with a bare left hand. So when they took a trip to California for Independence Day Kady was no longer going to get her hopes up and just enjoyed the trip as it came. Until Friday, July 3rd.

Thinking it would be cool to get some professional pictures on the beach Kady booked a session with a friend of hers who is a photographer and had been in the La Jolla area for summer. After she booked it Jeff secretly reached out to the photographer and they planned all the little details to propose. They arrived on the beach just before sunset and got a couple shots in when the photographer asked Kady to do a shot on a rock that reaches out over the water and to look out to the ocean. When Kady turned around Jeff was there on one knee. He said all the right things then asked the question, " Will you be my wife?" Even though they talked about marriage she was still completely overwhelmed in the moment. Her first response was a lot of " Are you serious?" and then the "YES" came. Tears and cheers of joy were shared.

To this day they both are so overwhelmed with how blessed they are to have each other and ask " Are you sure?" Just to make sure this is really happening."