After our greetings, my first statement was about how the sun was trying really hard to pop out of the clouds and kiss their skin with that sweet glow, but that it wasn’t looking good for our session. The clouds created that soft diffused light and we were ready to get started, so we didn’t let the gloomy overcast get us down. To showcase their passionate giggles with the best view, we immediately hiked up the mountain a bit, getting to know each other more along the way. They were absolute troopers and down for anything, I truly love that about them. Not to mention their sweet demeanors and the way their giggles brought the air around us to life. When we approached the first landing on the path up the mountain, we pulled over and I began testing my settings. As soon as I clicked the shutter for their very first photograph together to celebrate their two year wedding anniversary, the sun stretched throughout the sky like a child waking from a midday nap. The timing couldn’t be any more perfect or magical and without hesitation, we captured their glowing love and the setting sun.

Nikki and Bret met on a Friday night before the Super Bowl — a great night to be out on the town in Tempe, Arizona. They had both ended up at Casey Moore’s, an Irish Bar tucked among bungalows and tree-lined streets a few blocks from ASU. Bret was sitting with a couple friends when Nikki and her roommate approached and asked if they could sit down. They had just managed to get away from some sketchy guys across the bar and thought these guys looked more genuine. Eventually, Bret and his friends convinced Nikki and her roommate to come to a karaoke bar down the street. Nikki wasn’t to keen on the whole singing thing, where Bret used his love for music and his college singing experience to whip out a Temptations bit hoping to impress Nikki, I think it definitely worked!  Exchanging numbers didn’t go as smoothly as they both hoped, but Bret and Nikki started hanging out, went on a few dates, started seeing each other every night, eventually moved in together and here they are, more than six years later, happily married. Nikki shared that Bret is such a well-rounded partner. He is rooted in trust and honesty and is very loving, caring and sometimes goofy, just some of the many things she fell in love with. In June, they are planning a getaway to Oregon to celebrate two years as husband and wife, and I am so blessed that I got to be a part of their love story!