Five years ago, Chloe left her hometown in Korea to come to California as an exchange student studying psychology. What she thought was just going to be a year of studying, turned out to be a much more life changing year since it was the year she met John. :)

As an exchange student at UCR, Chloe knew that it was important for her to find a good community, and church, which she did immediately. It was there that Chloe and John finally met!

“When I saw [John], for the first time. He looked very outgoing, but looked a little bit puckish. Haha! But overall he was so nice and kind to everyone. I thought he looked mature in faith for his age.”

For those of you who don’t know what “puckish” means, I looked it up myself and it means “playful, especially in a mischievous way.” And for those of you who know John, this is a quite a funny description for him! Haha!

“At the time, I was serving as the leader of the praise team for our church, and she had been in charge of multimedia and powerpoint. My initial interactions with her were only as a church brother to sister who I respected from afar. She was very attractive (both spiritually and physically) but I only viewed her as a sister…and it still blows my mind that this “church sister” would one day be the one I call my wife.”

Over time, they got to know one another better. But let me just share John’s point of view of how they ended up dating. :)

“We definitely didn’t follow the “conventional” process of dating(if there is such thing). I laugh just thinking about all the “rookie mistakes” that I made. I had no dating experience before, and it definitely showed. But by the Grace of God (and by Chloe’s patience) things seemed to work out. It all started with a casual meeting at Starbucks…and then we hit it off. However, prior to dating, knowing that Chloe would be heading back to Korea soon, I proposed taking a 1.5 month time of prayer, during which we would not meet-up or speak with each other, but would only pray and ask God for guidance. After taking that precious and important time for us, we both felt right about continuing to pursue one another, even knowing that we wound embark on a long distance relationship.

I remember our first “pseudo-date” when we tried to grab dinner together for the first time at a pho place in the University Village. This is when our relationship status had not been known to the public. As we walked to the the restaurant entrance, we ran into a mutual church friend who eagerly asked: “Hey guys! Can I join you for dinner?”. Haha we looked at each other for a sec and of course agreed. That technically was our first date. The friend had no idea but we had fun! And we had plenty of 1-on-1 dates after.”

Since coffee had an important part in how the two of them got to know one another, we decided that a coffee shop was like the perfect setting for part of their engagement session! If was quite a beautiful day, with amazing weather–the perfect day for a photoshoot!

Thanks Copa Vida for letting us shoot at your sweet shop!

Most of John & Chloe’s dating relationship was long distance since Chloe had to go back home! To think they dated for FIVE years long distance amazes me, so I definitely asked how it all worked out!

“Because we were long- distance, we spent time together through video chatting or through phone calls… …I think we should thank Ipad, Google, or Kakao Talk! Haha! John would always ask me to do something creative via web-cam. For example, watching a movie together, which I promised I would do with him, but we still haven’t tried it yet! Haha!”

– Chloe

John shared a couple of other fun things they would do with one another via web-cam:

“Studying, playing “The Ungame”, sharing random, interesting facts about each other, and singing praise songs together.”

“As many others have experienced, long distance dating is difficult. There’s something about simply sitting face-to-face with your loved one that makes a world’s difference in deepening and strengthening a relationship. And many times we didn’t have that luxury. One of the most difficulty things about long distance dating that I experienced was during the moments that Chloe was down or having a hard time, I couldn’t be there to wrap my arms around her, pray for her, and tell her that things would be okay. And it didn’t help that our time zone differences made us have to be up at ungodly hours of the night!”

-John

As John said, the time difference (as we can all only imagine) was one of the biggest challenges.

“…We couldn’t spend time together as much as other couples could. In order to see each other, one person always had to wake up early or go to bed late. Nevertheless, the reason we were able to get here together is God’s Love and Grace.”

– Chloe

Despite the difficulties, John shared the things he & Chloe were thankful for in their long-distance relationship:

“Especially in long distance dating, but true for any relationship, many times during our rough patches, the distance required us not only to simply see the difficulty of the here and now, but to reach back and remind ourselves of the sincere promises and statements of commitment we made to each other when we started and then to fix our eyes on the hope of being with each other soon in the future. It definitely forced us to develop more patience, understanding and communication skills with one another. And praise God for technology! We wouldn’t have been able to do it without a clear Retina Display on our Ipads and without the internet to facilitate our Friday Date Nights on the webcam.”

P.S. Yes, indeed, the coffee was delicious. :)

After Copa Vida, we headed over to the gorgeous City Hall. :)

“I’m really appreciative for everything John has done for me, but if I have to choose one thing…. it would be when he spends his precious time with my parents and my family. When I see him get along with my parents, care about them, and love them with his sincere heart, I feel that he really loves me… and that we are really becoming one family.”

– Chloe

“Chloe is always praying for me. Out of the 5 Zillion things that she does for me and that I’m SOO thankful for, I am most grateful for how she so steadfastly prays on my behalf. Especially in my most difficult moments, I feel confident that I am being supported through prayer by her.”

– John

I asked John and Chloe to describe one another to me, and I loved their responses. :)

“John is… a jokester. He is very weird! He’s not a normal person! Hahaha But, he is so sweet and warm-hearted. He likes to joke, and sometimes it makes me embarrassed… But, I know he always cares about me first, and tries to make me smile and laugh. I can feel his thoughtful and sweet heart for me.”

“Chloe is… OCD which stands for organized, clean and disciplined ^___^; Pulchritudinous, because she is stunningly beautiful and her beauty deserves a unique word such as this; “8-Cow-Wife” because to me she is the most precious woman whom I would most willingly pay for with 8-cows without hesitation (You can google this reference); And Faithful… She is faithful to her family, her work, her commitments, to me and most importantly, she is faithful to her God.”

“Over the years, the more I got to know Chloe and the more we grew together in our trust, commitment and faith in God was when I realized that she was the one God had called me to marry. It wasn’t at all that we were perfectly compatible, had the same interests or met each other’s criteria for an ideal spouse. In fact, we were so different, more so than we could have imagined. But with each milestone in our relationship, my love for her grew, and she became more beautiful to me. I could see what God was doing in her life and I truly wanted to be a part of that. Tim Keller says it best:

“Within this Christian vision of marriage, here’s what it means to fall in love. It is to look at another person and get a glimpse of what God is creating, and to say, “I see who God is making you, and it excites me! I want to be part of that. I want to partner with you and God in the journey you are taking to his throne. And when we get there, I will look at your magnificence and say, ‘I always knew you could be like this. I got glimpses of it on earth, but now look at you!” – Tim Keller “The Meaning of Marriage”

In retrospect, even through the most impossible of circumstances, I could see how God was weaving our journeys and our stories together, so that we would become one for His glory.”

– John

“I knew I wanted to marry [John], when I saw God is in his heart, and God working in him. When he said he could’t treat me with a sneer, but that he couldn’t help cherishing and loving me because I’m God’s daughter. Those words are so meaningful to me, and they touched my heart.”

– Chloe

So how did this thoughtful man propose to his “pulchritudinous” fiancé?

“Actually, I received the proposal three times. I think he always tries hard to make me the happiest woman… But, I want to talk about the first one. :) He came to Korea to propose! It was New Year’s Eve, and I could feel how much work he put into it. I could feel how hard it was for him, because he had to prepare by himself in Korea. I think if he proposed in America, it would have been much easier for him. Hahaha!  I was moved by everything. but, i’m impressed the most with the video he made me. He contacted my close friends, secretly, and asked them video letter for me, and I was moved to tears … I think he already knew that in my mind, I was worried about how hard it would be for me to say goodbye to my friends (when I move to America) since they’re so precious to me. I think I’m getting married to a really sweet and thoughtful person… Thank you, dear… :)”

– Chloe

“I definitely wanted to make my proposal a memorable one, but having to propose in in a foreign country without close friends and family would be definitely be a challenge. Upon arriving to Korea, I “stole” Chloe’s phone and wrote down the contact information for all her closest friends. I then contacted them and asked them to create a 15-20 second clip congratulating her on her engagement and any thoughtful words they had for her. I then created and compiled a proposal video which included our history as well as our friends clips. On New Years Eve, I brought her to a fancy hotel in Korea where we had a fancy dinner, and then took her to a remote area in the hotel where I showed her the video and proposed. Haha she was so surprised and taken aback that I was getting nervous because she was taking so long to answer. I guess she REALLY didn’t expect it at that moment. But she finally said yes! The video with all her friends congratulating her truly touched her heart and brought her to tears even. It was special. We topped off the evening by going to New Years Eve service at her church and back at home where I had decorated her room with lights, balloons and pictures, and shared cake with the family. ”

– John

John saw Chloe as the beautiful woman of God that she was and swept her off her feet. :) Their story is so beautiful!

After City Hall, we found a secluded park in Pasadena, where we ended their session!

“After meeting John, what I feel is Happiness; What I have more of are Smiles; What I learn is Love.”

– Chloe

We were having so much fun during their engagement session! So much laughter and joy! I could truly just see how much they loved one another in how they spoke to one another and how they interacted with one another. :) But as the sun began to set, our fun day started to come to an end…

Since this session, Chloe had to go back to Korea to plan their wedding! So… even their engagement period has been pretty long distance!

“It’s hard because we can’t see each other in person, so it’s still long distance… haha! But, we are enjoying [being engaged]. I’m really looking forward to see my dear John again. Since time before our wedding is running out, I sometimes feel a bit scared, but I’m hopeful for God’s amazing plan for us! We will get marry in Korea, so I have to prepare without John, sometime it’s kind of sad and lonely (haha). But, I know he is always trying hard to make me feel like he’s with me even though he’s also really busy with his school and work. I’m so thankful. :)”

– Chloe

John & Chloe are such beautiful people. Again, long distance is such a hard challenge in a dating relationship, but I was encouraged to see how God really worked in their relationship to bring them closer together. :)

A word of advice from John, the “long distance pro” ;),  to the seriously dating:

“Dating(and I believe marriage as well) is best done in and with a community of friends and family around you. Even though meeting each other’s community for Chloe and I was limited, some of our best moments are when we shared it with others. The times in which we have met each other’s closest friends, church congregations, and family members, I believe, always has brought us the most joy. And in contrast, whenever we are so microscopically honed in on everything just being about us, we ran into problems. I really look forward to the times that Chloe and I can serve together at church or in the community. When the focus of the relationship is not so centered just on us, but rather outward focused, I have found that it helps us to see the bigger picture in life and unites our hearts together to reach a common goal. And we find ourselves bickering over little differences less.  So I would say that  bringing our relationship into a community of close ones has tremendously helped us along the way…

Marriage is definitely a marathon, and our goal is to do our best to prepare our hearts and minds for this lifelong commitment.“

Happy Friday, everyone! :)

Chloe’s Hair & Makeup // Beauty Creator

Coordinator Credits // Sweetly Memorable Weddings & Events