A Wild and Dapper Engagement Session - Colleen + Raffy
Sometimes, fate needs a little push from Internet to connect two souls that were meant to be together.
Before that, Colleen was travelling, and lived abroad for studying. She was regularly going on Yoga retreat and discovering the world. Raffy was busy perfecting his chef's skills and cooking the most delicious Syrian/Armenian cuisine. On his free time you might see him on a vintage bicycle driving around LA.
Colleen and Raffy met online during the pandemic. They started to date secretly but Raffy knew that he would not waist a single minute and propose as soon as the right moment came. He asked Colleen's Dad blessing before kneeling at the beach and proposing in the most romantic way…
Colleen would normally be off jet-setting around the world, with her job as a consultant taking her to to exotic places like Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, and Houston (Mexico too though!). Colleen is planned and organized, with a flair for the 'bags always packed' lifestyle. Little did she know that her biggest adventure would arrive when the world seemed anything but open.
Raffy is spontaneous, unpredictable, and always ready for an adventure. In fact, after just one week of dating, Raffy excitedly accepted Colleen's proposal to go on a yoga retreat together in Mexico the following year!
Together, Raffy and Colleen compliment each other's desire to explore and learn. Raffy has unlocked Colleen's comfort with her inner child and helped her become more playful and spontaneous, while Colleen has opened a kindness in Raffy's heart that might surprise his friends.
The location of the proposal and both being lovers of wilderness, an engagement session by the Ocean was indisputable. We drove to Palos Verdes, in Los Angeles, an area that offers both some greenery and the vast Ocean as backdrop.
Colleen associated a very classy forest green cocktail dress to a fun pink fur coat. Their wedding being in December, it was originally bought for the wedding night but because it wouldn't match the wedding dress she decided on wearing it for her engagement session. Raffy was rocking a vintage hat and a suit with the most elegant pattern.
Raffy and Colleen are a very grounded and fun couple who spent their time laughing and joking around, making each other at ease. Being by the water, they were totally in their element, running and dancing around. When I saw them, loving each others so truly, so deeply, not caring about the outside world, protecting each other, I saw love in its purest form: two souls finally reunited, ready to start their journey as married couple together.
Raffy started talking to his jeweler friend about a ring, but he was planning to wait to propose until the holidays. Raffy's friend found the only 5 oval diamonds in California. It is a sparkling diamond set simply on a delicate round gold band, and holds all of the good energy of the couple. Once Raffy saw the ring, he said he had to propose right away. "It was burning a hole in my pocket!"
On a planned trip to Santa Barbara, the couple stopped in Ventura, a place that is special to the bride-to-be. Raffy wanted to find the ever-so-perfect spot on the beach, and positioned his phone in the sand. After staring at her for a little two long, he proposed, sitting side-by-side on a blanket, in true form that their partnership is one of equals, and Colleen excitedly said, "Ok!"
