A tour around Venice and a party to beat all parties… Katy & Shaun are working their way towards the alter!

Oh wow, I LOVE Katy and Shaun!

No, not just because their flying us to Hawaii to photograph their wedding… although I do admit that does bias me towards them a bit! 😉

If you’ve ever met Katy and Shaun, you know what I mean when I say that there’s no way to NOT like them!

We first met Katy and Shaun when we went to visit them at their home in Venice, California.

My first impression of Shaun was of someone who threw open the door with his arms spread as wide open as the door, ready to greet us with giant hugs.

And Katy followed suit with the kind of warm hug that you thought only your grandma could give (Katy, when your old enough to actually be a grandma, I think your hugs will probably win world records).

See, I told you it was impossible to not like them!  Who doesn’t want to hang out with someone that warm and friendly?!

That first night, we stayed at their house way past their bedtime (which we’re so bad about doing because we keep pretty ridiculous hours, just check the time stamps on some of our Facebook updates! And by the way, if you’re not a fan of us on Facebook do it now before you miss any more of the good stuff!).  So maybe we’re just rude, but we really felt like we couldn’t leave because we were having such a great time with them!

They showed us all around their house and told stories about practically every item in the place because it all has so much meaning to them.  We got to meet all their friends that will be at the wedding in Hawaii with us via photographs and hear hilarious stories about all of them (that’s right, we know all about you already!) as we toured their life in photos.  Shaun’s an excellent story teller by the way, I could listen to him all night!

The next time we hung out with them went the exact same way… this time we were meeting up to do their engagement session (aka, these photos here).

(I loved watching them interact together!)

When we asked them about their lives and what kinds of things represent them best, they again directed us to their home that is filled with so many sentimental memories.

Shaun spends a ton of time working on and hanging out in his garden, so we decided it only seemed appropriate to start out their session in their home and showcase his pride and joy (it really is a STUNNING garden!).

Next, we headed down towards Venice beach, making a stop along the way at the Spinning class they first met in (Shaun declares to this day that he never would’ve been caught dead in one of those classes, but was forced into it due to physical therapy, or by what some would call “fate”).

Again, we LOVED hearing all their stories about the city history and culture, as well as the parts of their lives that are interwoven into it all.

When they talk about Venice, you can tell they feel like they’re the luckiest people in the world just because they have the privilege of living there.

I can’t say I disagree with that either, I (Breanna) am a little jealous!  Phoenix has it’s perks, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Venice.  If you know people who live in the LA area who are getting married, make sure you tell them about us!  You can help us slowly make our way over to the thrilling life that awaits us there!  We don’t even charge travel fees to shoot weddings in Southern California! (End commercial here).

(Doesn’t this look like such a nice, peaceful ending to a hectic day?)

After the session, Katy and Shaun treated us to one of the best dinners we’ve ever had in our lives!  It was at a cool little place called The Tasting Kitchen and as to be expected, we had such a great time hanging out with them there!

We sat there at the table laughing with them late into the night once again (sorry we always leave you guys so sleep deprived!).  If we weren’t convinced from our first visit to their house that we’d made great new friends, we were beyond certain after hanging out with them this night!

Luckily, we still had one more Katy and Shaun adventure to go during our visit that weekend!

Katy and Shaun are known amongst their friends (and the friends of their friends) for their spectacular annual parties.  They have several regularly occurring theme parties that people are ready and waiting for each year with costumes in hand.

Lucky for us, we happened to be in LA on the very same weekend that one of these parties was sweeping through.  This party was entitled “Bourgie Fashion Prepster Buenos Aires Hollywood Palermo Gringo Polo Summer Solstice Party”.  If it gives you any clue to how lucky we were that we actually got invited to such a trendy shindig… I had to google like every other word in the invitation (the only part I understood was something about the “John Stamos Fashion Mullet”).

Yeah, I can admit that I (Breanna) was definitely not cool enough for this party!  So thanks Katy and Shaun for taking a chance on us Arizona geeks and risking us embarrassing you in front of all your Fashion Prepster Buenos Aires friends! Ha ha!

Even with all the amazingness flowing through the Buenos Aires-esque breeze at this party, one of the best parts was getting to hang out with their friends/ future wedding guests (in real life this time, not via photos).

Of course these perfect little hosts couldn’t just have a one day, amazing and beautiful wedding in Hawaii, they have to make the entire week a fantastic party for all their friends to enjoy!  So we are headed over there in September for 5 days of planned out fun with their guests!  All kinds of tournaments, tours, etc. are happening in Hawaii and we get to be hanging out with many of the same people from the party, just snapping our cameras away at it all!

So now that we’ve met their close friends, heard background stories about why they’re all important to Katy and Shaun, we feel like we’re headed over to Oahu to hang out with our own friends (instead of strangers).

Seriously, could there be a more perfect way to go to Hawaii than to get to share in peoples lives, wedding, and relationships like that?!  Not to brag, but sometimes I think we have the best job in the entire world.  How else would we get to meet and work with such beautiful people as them?!

THANK YOU Katy and Shaun for bringing us into your world so early on and letting us get to experience life as you see it so that we can better capture it and reflect back the true stories and emotions behind your wedding day.

Your gracious, honest, and humble attitudes will serve you very well when it comes to your wedding pictures because we really feel like we’ve been set up well to tell the true story of your wedding day with heartfelt honesty.

I mean, look at how intense the story of just your engagement session is!  I might have to write your wedding blog in like 3 parts!  Thanks and we can’t freaking wait to see you there!!

Click to see the rest of the photos from Katy and Shaun’s “Tour of Venice” engagement session!