When Andrew told me that he and Emily would be moving out to California last year for work, I was SO excited! We’ve known each other since day 1 of freshman year in college. When Steven and I moved out here, we were kind of on our own – our friends from school moved all over the country after graduation. So, you can imagine my excitement when we got to do Thanksgiving with them and their cat, Sterling.

When I asked Emily what her vision was for the photos, she said something nature-y. Luckily, Palo Alto is a gold mine for beautiful gardens! We stopped by my two favorites – the Arizona Cactus Garden at Stanford and Elizabeth Gamble Garden, which is only a few minutes away. We did a more “formal” outfit and a more casual one.

They used this first photo on their save-the-dates – it’s one of my favorites from the whole session! I’m not shooting their wedding, but I’m excited to be a guest in August!