Brianna and Marcus’ Joshua Tree Engagement Session

Brianna and Marcus met in fourth grade at San Jose Edison Academy. They became best friends quickly, and were able to continue attending school together through the years.

Sam and I met with Brianna and Marcus at a little cabin they rented just outside of the Joshua Tree National Park. We started our session at the cabin with a couple of smoke bombs (they are not permitted inside the park, tsk tsk)…of course, being out in the desert, there’s always a chance of dealing with some wind and sure enough, the gusts started at the same time we did.. but it didn’t matter.. Brianna and Marcus are go-with-the-flow kinda people and we just kept movin’ on and having fun! I’m so excited to photograph their wedding! Read more of Brianna and Marcus’ love story while enjoying photos from their Joshua Tree engagement session.

The Big Proposal: 

“To celebrate graduating with my Masters degree, Marcus planned a trip to the Grand Canyon, because we love camping and would like to visit all of the national parks one day. He had never been, and it had been years since I had gone, so I was so excited for him to see it. We got there Friday morning and just did some exploring and setting up of our camp site. We went to bed fairly early because we were planning a hike in the morning. The next day we get up and head to the South Kaibab Trail to hike down to Cedar Ridge. As we are heading down into the canyon, Marcus tells me he has to pee and to look out for other hikers, so they don't walk up on him, but in reality he was getting the ring out of his backpack to put in his shorts. We walk a bit more and he says we should set up the go pro and film us for a bit, and we can take screen shots from it later. We do that and I smile for like 2 seconds and say "Ok, lets keep going!", In the video you can see him trying to grab both of my hands, but I was way too focused on getting down the canyon. We end up making it down the canyon and Cedar Ridge is beautiful, but its really windy, so Marcus decides to hold off due to the dirt, and we just eat our lunch, then head back up the canyon. The elevation change is pretty big, in comparison to the distance, so getting back up takes us a lot longer, mostly because of me.

When we do get back up, I decide to take a break and sit on a bench for a while. He says "I'm going to go look for some nice places for photos." What he really was doing was going to find a place to propose. He finds beautiful outlook, with not many people around, but he wanted someone to film us, because he knew I wanted that. He asks a guy and explains what he was planning, and the guy tells him no and that its too much pressure and he has to catch up to his friends. There were two women speaking German, that looked over when Marcus explained what he wanted to do and so he asked them if they spoke English. Luckily they did, and they were so excited to film. He then went over to find me and when he got back, he asked if they would be wiling to take photos of us, making me completely unaware of what was happening. He grabbed my hands and started telling me things, that I don't really remember, I was so in shock. I remember asking him "are you really doing this?" and "have you talked to my parents?" because my parent's blessing was extremely important to me. He said yes to both questions, and I said yes to the big one! We were able to spend the rest of the trip engaged.

Share 3 things you love about each other:

Brianna- Obviously there are so many more than just three, but here a few. I love Marcus' sense of humor, and how much I find myself laughing or smiling when I am with him. I also love how hardworking but humble he is. My last of three, is how much he cares about and loves my family and my dog, because he knows how important they are to me, and how they are now his family too. 

Marcus- I love how intelligent Brianna is. She loves to learn about all kinds of things, and she's always telling me random facts. I love how caring she is. She wants the best for the ones close to her and they all know it. Last, she's beautiful, inside and out.

Location, Location, Location: 

We chose Joshua Tree National Park, and surrounding areas because, again, we love national parks and wanted to check another off of our list. I looked up engagement shoots at the park and I really liked them, so it worked perfectly.

Your Feelings Before The Engagement Session:

We were both pretty nervous about it. Neither one of us loves taking pictures, and the only "professional" photos we had done together were from prom at the mall. Carrie and Sam made it so easy though! They were excited about ideas and shots and that made us excited about them. Seeing the sneak peeks so far, made me so happy. I have never been super self conscious about how I look, but I also have never been super confident about it either. Those photos made me feel so beautiful, and I love how you can see the way that Marcus and I feel about each other in the photos. I could not be happier, and I can't wait to see the rest of them.

Care To Share Any Advice To Future #VinesBrides?

Honestly, the best advice is just to trust Carrie. She's a professional and has been doing this for a long time. She knows what works and how to instruct you to do it. I also never felt like she was just trying to get through the generic poses and be done, she wanted to try new shots and experiment with the lighting. She loves what she does and it pays off."

Joshua Tree Engagement Session

Can you believe that Brianna and Marcus met in elementary school?! What a great story they’ll share with each for a lifetime!

Enjoy your slideshow!