Brooke + Juan: a Phoenix Desert Engagement Session

Brooke contacted me shortly after seeing my work on Facebook and in her initial email she said, ” I have had my eye on your Facebook page and I love your personality and the care you take behind all of your photos. You seem like someone who could make even the least photogenic of people still feel comfortable around the camera. “

Well, first of all, besides that being the sweetest opening line and something we photographers dream of hearing, I’m here to tell you that Brooke & Juan are highly photogenic. I mean, look:

After getting Brooke’s email, we began planning out their engagement session! They both knew exactly what they wanted in the location for their session, and we chose one of my favorite places in the Valley. The day of their engagement session came, Brooke got her hair & makeup done and they both looked phenomenal! As I was heading to their engagement session, we were texting each other about the big black clouds that were absolutely not on the weather report that morning, and I was frantically looking at the trees to see if there was any wind. Since I was seeing no wind, and the weather radar showed no rain headed our way either, we all agreed to go ahead with it. And, in true Arizona, unpredictable monsoon season style, less than 10 minutes into our session an incredible cloud of weather blew right into our location and we had to call the session and reschedule.

And so, you can bet your bottom dollar we were anxiously watching the weather reports again this time. And Monday was showing a 3% chance of rain, which in Arizona means you will see no rain at all except maybe between 11pm and 3am. But, again, dark clouds loomed ominously that afternoon. So, we decided to change the location last minute to one that looked like it would completely miss any chance of rain and guys, I AM SO GLAD WE DID! Phoenix Mountain Preserve is gorgeous and one of my favorite spots in the valley, not just for sessions but also for hiking – Nick & I actually hiked here as a date on our 1 year anniversary and have since brought our kids many, many times on hikes here!

So, now that I’ve told you how the session almost got rained out twice, let me tell you a little bit about Brooke & Juan!

Brooke & Juan met while working each of their first jobs, Pizza Hut – let’s just pause for half a second because I love them even more for working at a pizza shop for their first jobs…yummm. Anyways, back to the story! Juan had already worked there for a few years at that point and so when Brooke started he got the chance to be able to train her on everything that is making pizzas, working in the kitchen and creating a perfectly sliced pizza. They also happened to have really similar schedules so as they started to spend more and more time together, neither of them could deny there was a connection – which, I would have to agree that these two are the absolute cutest together.

I had so much fun being able to see that connection play out. Both Juan & Brooke are very fun, easy going type people and I loved being able to just walk around Phoenix Mountain Preserve, chat about life, share jokes — I told them my husband’s best joke, and let me tell you guys, it’s a good one — talk about my silly kids and what’s next in life for them. Through the time that we spent together I really got to see just how much these two compliment one another in their personalities and their relationship and I love that about them!

I love asking my couples what the first thing they noticed about one another is. Inevitably the guys usually answer with something pretty standard like, “her butt!” and while Juan did answer with that, he then says that the next thing he noticed were Brooke’s beautiful eyes. Look at how gorgeous these two are together:

Brooke said that the first thing she noticed about Juan was his calm, steady voice, like she could listen to it for hours. And I really think that’s something I just loved about these two, that while they definitely had fun and we laughed a lot – they were just so natural and steady together, it really is such a beautiful thing to witness.

Now, I do have to tell you how Juan proposed to Brooke, because while it wasn’t exactly like they imagined, I still think it’s the cutest! Brooke & Juan had spent the early part of Valentine’s Day day hanging out, going to the mall and grabbing snacks but had headed home to change because they had decided to go to the park for a walk before Brooke had to work later that day. As they were getting ready to head out the door for their walk, Juan grabbed his coat and a box flipped out of his pocket – where he had the ring hidden for safe keeping, and potential proposing at the right moment! – and hit the floor. Brooke looked at him, and he looked at her and said, “Oh, I guess I’m doing this now!” I love that while he was keeping the ring for the right time, that in the moment they were able to just go with it and still are so grateful for just being able to be at one another’s side for life!

I feel super lucky that I got to have the opportunity to spend time with these two, not only for their engagement session, but also for their wedding next month in Prescott! I know we all can’t wait for fall leaves and a gorgeous ceremony, so stay tuned for their blog post! Until then, check out the fun we were able to have at their Phoenix Mountain Preserve Engagement Session!!

A big thank you to Courtney with Seventh Ave Beauty for hair & makeup for Brooke!