I’m so excited to share this super fun and adventurous Las Vegas engagement session of Ryan & Jeanne. It’s been a long time coming. I’m so mesmerized by how good they looked together during our session. Certainly, I was so honored when they asked me to be their wedding photographer. It warmed my heart even more when they said they had no one else in mind to hire when they started their wedding planning process. Likewise, I could not think of a better person to take your photos who will showcase what I know about these two.

Ryan and I go waaaaay back. In fact, we’ve been friends for more than a decade spawning from our young days as students at UIC. As a matter of fact, I consider him one of my best-est (I know, it’s not a word?) guy friends. But, this story is not about our friendship. However, my friendship with him allowed me to witness his journey that led him to Jeanne. No interviews needed, right?

Ryan met Jeanne in Las Vegas. He and his buddies, that included my husband, Erick, frequented Las Vegas to have some fun. It felt like they went almost every year. They saw her at a salon, where she worked as a receptionist, inside Seafood City. They thought she was pretty. Mind you, some of them were single so no harm there. LOL!

They went inside that salon but so as not to make it weird, they had one of the guys volunteer to all of a sudden “need a haircut.” Subsequently, they started a conversation with her and some of the other people that worked there. In fact, one of them was the makeup artist for Lani Misalucha! She’s such an icon for Filipinos and spent some time in Vegas performing, earning her title as “The Siren of the Strip.” These guys luckily met her and they even have a photo to prove it. Eventually, this not-so-random encounter became a friendship.

Although they knew of each other from that silly meet up at the salon, their love story didn’t actually develop until many years later. When Ryan finally graduated from grad school, he decided to pack up and leave Chicago and move to Vegas. Jeanne was one of the fewest people he knew there so their friendship grew deeper. That friendship turned into attraction. Attraction led to infatuation. And inevitably, infatuation turned into love. I’ve literally witnessed their relationship turn from one Facebook status to the next (figuratively) as I’ve been visiting them every year when I’m there for a work conference.

It’s always fun to be around these two. Their generosity and thoughtfulness is unequivocal. They love going on adventures. In fact, they are so well-traveled for the relatively small amount of time they’ve been together. Just go through their Facebook photos, you’ll see. I wish I can instagram the way they do on a daily basis! Don’t get me wrong though, they do both work very hard during the week.

For their Las Vegas engagement session, I already had so many things in mind. How can I make this an epic experience for them? Well, if it wasn’t for them being game to whatever I say, it would not have turned out to be. Thank you for trusting me in picking the places. And, thank you for letting me direct you 100% of the time without question. Thank you for hiking Valley of the Fire in those beautiful outfits on an almost 100-degree weather. In addition, thank you for taking your friend, Ace, with us for a drive to El Dorado Dry Lake bed where you ran, lifted, walked, spun around, laid on the ground and dance your butts away as my finger clicked the shutter nonstop. Too bad Game of Thrones was about to go on so we had to jump back in the car and go home!

Anyway, I can’t wait for your wedding. We know the photos will be even better than this epic Las Vegas Engagement Session. Even without any special occasions, you guys have always surrounded yourselves with wonderful friends and families. I can just imagine how much fun it would be when they all celebrate your big day. We’ll definitely see you soon!