Friends. I am SO so excited to share this engagement blog with you because I LITERALLY around during the beginning of this relationship unfold basically 10 years ago! I love hearing about high school sweethearts that end up saying their “I do’s”, so it was especially special to me when Bryan & Janelle contacted me asking me to be their wedding photographer!!
Many many moons ago, Bryan and I had a couple classes together with a group of others we used to hang out with quite often our Freshman & Sophomore years! One of my earliest memories of him involved talking with a group of friends, and I remember him quite distinctly talking about how Bryans spelled with a “y” are cooler than those spelled with an “i” (Sorry to all the Brian’s reading this! Haha!)! I also remember vividly that he and some of our other friends in our group tried teaching me how to break dance–NOT a pretty sight, I promise. HAHA! My memory of Bryan was that he was always a really good guy & great listener!
Now I can’t remember exactly how I met Janelle, but I always knew her as being super sweet and kind! We didn’t have many classes together since she was two grades lower than we were, but we did have similar friend groups and I do distinctly remember the feeling of being so excited when I heard Bryan & Janelle got together! In high school, it’s always exciting when friends end up dating–but I remember being so happy for these two because they just seemed to match so well together!
“I honestly don’t remember exactly how I formally met Bryan or if I even did! I think it was one of those things in high school where we knew of each other because of other friends and somehow one of us added each other on Myspace and then AIM. My first impression of him was that he was cute! And just because I thought he was cute, I decided to try talking to him. Yes I know, that is very high school…” // Janelle
Good old AIM! I hope a majority of you reading know what AIM is… haha! Bryan remembers a little more of their first meeting:
“I met Janelle the summer before my junior year [of high school]! I was at Leo’s house for breakdance practice with the rest of our friends, when she popped her head out of the garage door with her other cousin. When they went back inside I asked Leo who those girls were, and he told me they were his cousins. In my head I thought, “hm that one girl was kinda cute,” but didn’t think much of it after that.
The first day of junior year rolls around and all the students’ names were written on stars and were taped to the windows. I couldn’t find mine after looking for a while, then Janelle comes along and hands me mine. From then we ended up talking and becoming friends!” // Bryan
Janelle says that she looked for his star because of that first feeling of thinking he was pretty cute! ;) She found his star and wrote him a note! I love what she shared after telling me this sweet detail of their beginnings: “So thanks to me, we started talking and the rest was history!” Haha!!
“Bryan was the one that asked me out. It was during school while we were on morning break on Oct. 7, 2008, and it was kind of weird. By then we were already talking for about 2 months, and he just told me that he wanted to talk to me. So we walked not too far from the middle/Asian area, and he just faced me, grabbed my arms, and asked if I would be his girlfriend. So I just grabbed his arms back and said yes!” // Janelle
Oh, High School! I love it! Haha :) Bryan also thought that she was cute & silly, and he loved how much they had in common! Anyway, as Janelle put it, the rest was history and here they are… only TWO DAYS away from their wedding day that I am so excited to be capturing!
Truth be told, these engagement portraits were photographed last February! I didn’t post them until now because their wedding date got pushed back a year due to some changes they had in profession & training! BUT, I think it’s even more awesome since now their wedding anniversary will be only a day before their dating anniversary!! What a special time for them! :)
We went all around Anaheim for their engagement session-ending it at the Happiest Place on Earth! ;) Without further adieu, here’s some of my favorites from their engagement session adventure!
“It’s hard to think about what exactly attracted me the most about Bryan because there are so many things that he’s done at different times in life! For example, if you’re thinking about when we first started talking back in high school, it would just be the fact that he was cute, nice, liked video games and anime (like me), and I enjoyed talking to him. As we got older, I was not only attracted to the way he looked or his interests, but also many of his personality traits – how he was such a gentleman, how we shared the same morals, and how we were always on the same page. It’s been over 9 years, and I’m still extremely attracted to him and there’s no place I’d rather be but with him!” // Janelle
Janelle in three words according to Bryan:
“Cute. Silly. Caring.
The first one speaks for its self, she’s silly because of her reactions to some of the crazy things I do. She’s caring because no matter how many times I may make a mistake she takes time to understand and tells me how to do things better next time.“
“I am really bad at these kinds of questions! I think the 3 words I would describe [Bryan] with are cute, weird, and talented.
I picked “cute” because, of course, I think he’s the cutest! We actually call each other “cutie” more than we say “babe” or “honey.” Not in a flirty way, though. It’s used in the exact same tone as any other pet names! We’ve been calling each other that since way back when. It actually started with “cutie pants” and then we just cut that short. Not everyone gets to see the cute, silly Bryan that I do, and there’s not much I can say besides that!
“Weird” is another one because he can be quite strange at times, but once again, that’s one of those things that I get to see more of than anyone else. We can be pretty weird with each other, and we totally understand each other’s weirdness! That weirdness is something we share and that constantly keeps us entertained and we end up having fun anywhere we go!
Lastly, Bryan is very talented. Not many people have the drive to keep doing something until they master it, or have so many random hobbies that they have been into. He’s good at any sport he tries, any video game, and like I said, any random hobby that he decides to try, may it be unicycling or kendama. When he puts his mind to it, he will practice until he understands it, and will add yet another thing on his list of talents. Our friends say that he’s good at everything because he really is!”
Janelle! You did great at describing Bryan! Haha! :) I love those words & the explanations that go with them!
I also thought I’d add the side note of: Isn’t Ink & Bean SO cute?? It’s sadly now closed, but I thought it was honestly magical. The hanging books reminded me of Harry Potter! I loved their efforts in increasing reading & writing! They even had a little library like trailer that was duped up & parked in front of it! Super cute! And their coffee was delicious! I’m glad I was able to check it out at least once!!
As we ended their time at Ink & Bean before heading to Disneyland, I loved getting to capture the photo just above! I told them to hug one another as if it were the last time they’d see one another & I loved how real and silly it came out to be! Haha! :)
Disney holds a special place to these two as they shared many dates together roaming around the parks!
Spending time with these two (& our other mutual friend, Kim, who was an amazing assistant!!), was so much fun! We got to catch up as we ran around town & rode a couple rides! They even ended up introducing me to lobster nachos at the Pier–which I had been dying to try! And they did not disappoint! Haha! So tasty! :)
As they shared, I just had to share this little bit on how Janelle actually got Bryan’s phone number! It’s also one of her favorite memories of the two of them!
“When we were simply just friends on Myspace, AIM, and on the Wii, there was a time that my brother and a friend were playing Smash Bros on the Wii with [Bryan]. They were teaming up against [Bryan], and I remember walking by and getting mad that they were doing that to him, so I called Leo and asked for Bryan’s number so that I could team up with [Bryan] and we could go against them. So I called him and we stayed on the phone the entire time we were playing against them! After that, I realized what a great way that was to get his number!”
So unknowingly clever! & I think that memory shares a lot of the kind of person I knew Janelle to be–super considerate of those around her! I love that she wanted to help out Bryan when he was being outnumbered!
“One thing that I learned by dating Bryan was that communication is one of the key things in a relationship. Not everyone expresses how they feel to their SO’s and I was always honest and told Bryan how I felt about things and I think that had a positive impact on our relationship. We would never yell at each other, or had a “break” or “broke up,” because we would always talk it out and come to a resolution. And by talking things out, I was able to realize why he, or I, would think or feel a certain way, which would ultimately help find a solution to our problems.” // Janelle
Oh yes. Learning to communicate is such a life long experience and learning how to hear each other out is so important! When you get married, you’re an established team–you’re one! And learning how to come & work together as a team for the benefit of your marriage even when it feels at the moment like you’re against one another is so important!
So I’m sure you’re wondering a bit about their proposal story, now!! :)
“The way I could describe it is casual! I didn’t want to do anything too flashy, but I did want to catch her by surprise. On the way home, I just told her that I had a surprise for her. Since I had said that she was excited, because in my head I’m sure she was expecting food or something along those lines hah.” // Bryan
Haha! He knows her so well!! Because this is what she said in continuation to their story!
“Bryan proposed to me at my house when it was just us two at home, and in my living room. He told me earlier in the day that he had a surprise for me, and thinking it was like any other day, I thought it would just be food. My mom happened to have a friend coming over because they were going out, so Bryan got to my house when my auntie was there, and sometime after they left he mentioned the surprise. I was just sitting on my couch and he told me to close my eyes, then then he told me to open them and proposed! I actually ended up finding out that there were some failed attempts to his original plans” // Janelle
In a world where flash mob proposals (which are of course, super special) are beginning to almost be a “common” thing, I seriously loved the sweet romance in Bryan’s intimate proposal to Janelle. It’s such a sweet, private moment that they got to enjoy wholly present with one another. Love that. :’) & It was just what Janelle wanted!
Janelle shared some of the other ideas Bryan had planned out for the two of them:
“Apparently he thought I would open the door, and he was going to play one of our songs on his speaker while he proposed (“Lady” by Mojo), but because my mom opened the door for her friend right when he got there, that didn’t happen, so he just did what he did. Also, a couple months before that, he was thinking of proposing when we had a Big Bear trip with a bunch of our friends, but decided he wanted it to be just us 2 (yes, he brought the ring to Big Bear). And the summer before that he was planning on proposing when we went to Hawaii together, but he didn’t! I didn’t know how much of a process it was until he told me, because the actual proposal was simple, cute, and intimate enough for me!“
Before I close, I wanted to share some pieces of advice they wanted to share with those of you who are seriously dating or engaged!
“My piece of advice is to be patient, and not everything you say/do may be right, and you have to understand that!” // Bryan
“The words of advice I would give for the seriously dating/soon to be engaged are words that I’ve heard plenty of times, which is to “never stop dating.” As simple as it sounds, it’s not as easy as people may think. Life can get pretty busy, and sometimes, even though you see each other everyday, you’re not REALLY spending time with each other. Make time for yourselves to go out together, have date nights, explore another city, try new things, and the love will stay alive!” // Janelle
YAY Janelle & Bryan!!! I am SO SO excited to be photographing your wedding in two days!! :)
Also, major shoutout to our friend Kim for tagging along and helping out!! You were awesome!! :) Can’t wait to see you soon, too!!
