Early last month I was contacted by Patricia, a bride-to-be, one hot momma, and an enthusiast of all things vintage. She met her fiancé Michael through Match.com, and true to their love of literature, the two had their first date at a Barnes and Noble. Clients after mine own heart. :) Although I was already booked for their wedding date, we planned a sweet 1940′s-meets-2010 styled engagement shoot, and Patricia and Michael rocked out the props. And get ready for some serious meltage, because we included Patricia’s five-year-old twins Sophie and Sebastian in some of the shots, and I just might submit them to Cute Overload.

To the future Mr. and Mrs.: I had such a blast with you guys and your sweet family. Thank you for trusting me with your images. Enjoy!! :)

Pssh, just wait until you see them close up!

The twins brought along one of their favorite books, which also happens to be one of mine! Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. My favorite poem? Melinda Mae (who ate a monstrous whale)!

Adorable you two. Fruity and adorable.

I canNOT get over the eyelashes on this woman! I want, I want.

These two were so naturally affectionate with each other. Just imagine me behind the lens yelling, “OMG, hold that. HOLD THAT!!”

It’s pictures like this that make me realize the importance and impact of my job. I, Alyse, get to capture sweet, real moments like this?! I’m so honored. Truly.

Meet Dora the Explorer. I mean, Sophie. The world’s sweetest, most prettiest little girl.

P and M brought along their favorite reads. The Complete Poems of Anne Sexton for Patricia. And a fancy-shmancy, smarty-pantsy psychology book for Michael.

Ya’ll know I love a good picture of you pretending to take a picture of me taking a picture of you, right? Yes, yes I do!!

Patricia, you’re beautiful. That is all.

Clients of the Year award goes to this lovely couple. For wrapping themselves in a quilt in 98 degree weather just for me. :)

Alyse: “Hey Michael, TICKLE HER!” Patricia: “Oh, don’t you DARE!” Ohhh, but he dared alright.

Sweet, sweet love.

And then Michael had to go and act all hunk on us.

Shadows or not, I’m in love with this moment. And therefore, it has been blogged. :)

Happy Thursday!

We met the future Mr. and Mrs. Lane exactly one month ago today – on our first day in Houston. With my frizzled hair ruined by the Houstonian humidity, we sipped tea and made chit chat. Of springtime weddings, custom designed engagement rings, and the Texas heat. Of course.. Always the heat. We planned a Hermann Park engagement shoot, survived torrential rains from whichever hurricane was most recent, and had a good laugh at the parking ticket we found pinned to our dash. (For the record.. Yes, I told Dylan to park there.) And one jalapeño, tempura, tiger-eye and spicy yellowtail roll later, we were no longer just photographers and clients. We were friends. And I am so thankful.

Rachel and Travis: Thank you for welcoming us to share in your love story. And thank you for welcoming us to our new home. XOXO!!

Just look at how he looks at her. :) And Rachel thinks I’m funny. Or something..

Ordinarily, wet grass and feet don’t go together. This time, it’s a little different.

Love, love, LOVE this sequence.

Couldn’t you just eat these two?

Rachel – You’ve GOT to be kidding me with those eyes.

Modern art win. :)

Rachel and Travis came prepared. Complete with hott zebra-print dress and brown leather shoes. Classy-brassy!

My FAVORITE.

Halfway through shooting in front of this big black “triangle thingy,” Travis had to outsmart us and point out, “It’s a sundial!” Neat, right?

Rawr and a half.

When I say “Work it!” Travis knows what’s up.

Happy Thursday!!

When Dylan and I shot Breanna and Ben’s engagement session a couple weeks back, it was moments like these that had me all “Awww, seriously guys?.. OMG I LOVE it… Wait, do that again!!” The love these two have for each other is so real, so tangible. And it was an absolute honor to document. To Bre and Ben – thank you for sharing your day, your laughter, and your love with us. SO looking forward to your fabulous wedding!!

I was SO giddy when we found this amazing blue door by sneaking around Coby for a bit. So worth it!!

Don’t they look perfect together?? They.just.fit.

Ben always knows how to get a laugh out of Breanna! Not that that’s hard or anything. :)

Okay, for real, Bre? Look at those eyes!!

These two images just make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :)

Stunnaaa.

Doesn’t this next shot just make you giggle??

Just a quick couple of shots on the tracks. B&B – thank you for trusting me with your lives RIGHT before that train came! J/K, J/K.. ;)

Ben liked it so then he put a ring on it. Wha-oh-oh-oh-oh-ooh-oh-oh.

Couldn’t decide which of these next two I love more. Such sweet, tender moments between these two!!

RAWR.

And to the weirdos who drove by and screamed out their car window regarding my standing and shooting right on top of them, THIS image was worth it. Don’t hate. :)

Gotta love me some alleyway light!! Yummm.

Such naturals!!

LOVE the expressions in this one.

Just love Ben’s smirk right here.

Thank you, God, for perfect light in the most unlikely of places. :)

My favorite images will always be the ones in between..

To see more of Breanna and Ben’s engagement session *CLICK HERE!!*

These two hold a very special place in my heart, as they’re very much on the same page as Dylan and me. As a matter of fact, I like to take pride in the fact that I knew the day Ryan was going to propose, while Molly had not a clue. ;) Standing in the middle of Congress Park in Saratoga Springs, Ryan got down on his knee, a huge smile on his face, and asked Molly to be his wife. A tearful Molly said yes, and a June wedding is in the works!! (Can’t wait!)

Dylan and I recently stole the lovely couple away to shoot their engagement sesh. We had so much fun shooting around SU and downtown Syracuse.

Are they not absolutely adorable??

Something about Molly constantly reminds me of Angelina Jolie. No?? Gorgeous!

Shooting downtown was.. interesting. :) LOVE the mural!

This guy is QUITE the dancer. Seriously, their wedding reception is gonna be CRAZY. This picture reminds me of Singing in the Rain.

What can I say? I’m a sucker for foot shots.

This final series of shots were my FAVORITE. But we definitely made sure to do a tick-check afterwards!

This photo makes me giddy. :)

Molly and Ryan: Thank you SO much for being such fabulous models and great friends. I’m so excited for your future together. :)

Happy Friday!!

About two years ago, I thought I had my mind made up. I was to be single for the rest of my life. And it wasn’t that I felt there was no hope for anyone loving me (there wasn’t much hope, but there was at least some). It was more like my own choice. Past relationships and watching ones that had been ruined within my extended family throughout my life, had made its impact. It wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t worth the constant thinking about someone – the kind that stops you from getting school work done, or anything else for that matter. It wasn’t worth the over-analyzing of little remarks. It wasn’t worth the bad. And to me, it wasn’t worth the good.

I remember telling my parents I was never going to get married. And I remember them outright laughing at me, too. Of course, marriage had always been something I wanted when I was a little girl. But things had changed. And circumstances led me to believe I was to dedicate my life to other things. And I was finally feeling content with that.

But then, what do you know? Dylan had to come and screw everything up! In February of 2008, I was a sophomore in college. On one pleasant Thursday evening, I was helping lead worship at SU’s weekly Campus Crusade for Christ meeting. As the team and I were practicing before people got there, I distinctly remember this guy walking around the auditorium, stopping suddenly, and staring at me for a solid minute. I don’t know if I thought anything about it at the time, other than, “Um.. Would you quit staring at me!”

A couple weeks later, I was mingling with a group of people at Cru. That same guy, Dylan, was to my left. And we had never met. I took initiative, sticking my hand out rather quickly, and probably awkwardly.. “Hi! I’m Alyse!” Bahahah, I almost cringe with embarrassment thinking back on it. Hopefully, I’m just over-analyzing like I always do. :) Dylan reciprocated very kindly, “Hi, I’m Dylan!” AND he had a good, firm handshake – a good sign. :)

The next few months were full of chats on AIM until 3AM.. I know, I know.. Lame. But so much fun! Dylan also stuck by me when I was being stalked by the ICOC (cult alert!! – a story way too long for this blog..) and some 30-year-old “student” at SU. Crap, did I just write that in my blog??!! Anyway, I’d like to think our story is quite the unusual one. :) After three months of friendship, Dylan and I sat in my room, watching To Kill a Mockingbird (my FAVE movie of all time!). As the credits began rolling though, Dylan became visibly nervous – anxiously playing with the corner of my pillow. This was “THE talk.” As I explained in an earlier post, Dylan would be graduating in 5 days, I’d be leaving for Sharon in a week, and Dylan would soon be making a big move to Manhattan and launching his career with CSC. The obvious answer seemed to be, “No..” But we decided we’d both pray about it, and ask our close friends, and families to help us make this decision. And, TUH-DAH!! We’ve been dating for nearly a year and a half.

Man, this is getting LONG. But hey, even if you guys have given up reading by this point, I’m having fun! :)

K, SO.. On Tuesday, Dylan picked me up from campus and began driving back to my apartment. Right before you make a right onto Slocum Drive to park, you can also make a left to get the mail. I asked Dylan to take a left so I could do just that. And although he said “Okay,” he immediately made a right. My reaction?? “HELLO?!?! I JUST asked you to make a LEFT!” Of course, I couldn’t be too upset – Dylan’s was all smiles.. “It’s a good day for a walk,” he said with a smirk. Mind you, the weather SUCKED on Tuesday!! As I got out of the car and began walking to the mailbox, Dylan convincingly said, “Hey! Did someone do something to our tree?? I think someone did something to our tree!!” (Flashback to last year: I was in the next apartment block over, and there was this beautiful cherry blossom tree right outside my window. One day, I decided we must carve our initials in said tree.. Hence, it is OUR tree. K, fast forward!) My first thought – “WHO did something to our tree, and WHY and HOW?! I’ll KILL ‘em!!” Second thought.. “OMG.. This is it?!?! There’s a ring tucked in one of our initials..” I walked toward the tree, looking specifically for a ring. And I didn’t see one.. I’m not sure how, in the span of literally 5 seconds, I could have had so many different thoughts! It took me another second or two to realize the “MARRY ME?” carved above our initials.. And then what I remember thinking was – “We’ve been talking about this for so long.. And now, this is IT. No, seriously. THIS is IT!! OMG..” When I turned around, Dylan was on his knee. (Good boy!) With a crack of his sweet voice, he asked me again, “Will you marry me?” And then.. Romantically.. My knees gave out, and I fell on all the little crab-apple thingys that squish so pleasantly under your feet and get all over your jeans. I remember holding his face in my hand (although, I could totally be making that up – it was such a whirlwind!) and saying.. “Yes” and sobbing for foreverrrrr. My ring is BEAUTIFUL. It’s so shiny and sparkly and great, and somehow, I’m still shocked every time I see it after not looking at it for a few minutes. :) I then asked, “Wait! Did you ask my dad??” – “Yes, like two weeks ago! I was waiting until the ring came in this morning to ask you!” My third thought: “HOW on EARTH will I be able to study for my COM Law exam tomorrow?!?!” Fourth thought: Who cares! I’m getting married!! :)

And so, bloggers. That is my post for today. And probably the week. I am loved. And happy. And content. And ENGAGED. OMG. :) And because every post is better with pictures, here is my ring! And our tree!

About a month ago, I asked my beautiful cousin Abbey if I could do a couples shoot of her and her boyfriend, just for kicks. And to make it even more fun, why not make it an “engagement” shoot, with a $9 ring from Wal*Mart to make it really look real!!

That was the plan, until one week before the scheduled date, Curt called me and left a nervous message: “Hi Alyse, you don’t know me, but this is Curt, Abbey’s boyfriend. I got your number from her father, and I need you to call me back. But do NOT tell her I called!!” I knew EXACTLY what was coming!! He’d gotten my uncle’s permission to ask her for her hand in marriage, and he planned to turn our fake engagement shoot into a REAL one!

After numerous secretive phone calls and texts between Curt and myself, the stage was set – During our shoot, I’d ask Curt to take Abbey’s fake ring off of her hand, and hold it while kneeling in front of her and reenacting the proposal that never actually happened. That was his cue! He then took the real ring from his pocket, and had Abbey in complete shock!! Needless to say, she said yes! And I am SO completely honored to have been in on such a sweet, sweet moment!

I love you, Abbey and Curt! And I hope you enjoy this sneak peak of your REAL engagement shoot!! :)