Whimsical San Francisco Engagement Session
Well my friends, this is one crafty couple. If they created these fab props for their engagement shoot, I can only imagine what their wedding will entail. But until then, I'm quite happy spending some quality time with Jasmine Lee's pics and getting all sorts of giddy ideas, from the enormous balloons to the light up marquee. Get ready to perk up your Pinterest boards immediately with these pics right here!
From the Bride-to-be...“I think we need to rent a Uhaul” – Nancy
“….Wait what?” – Dustin
That was the conversation that sparked a single creative idea into an entire engagement photo shoot. Balloons, big 36” balloons were the idea. So I had this vision, a vision to stand out amongst a lot of the engagement photo shoots I’ve seen. I’ve worked with Jasmine Lee Photography before, and while all her work is amazing, I wanted something extra that would make our pictures pop (pun intended). So I had this idea of having some balloons. Now, these weren’t just any balloons, they had to be 36” yoga ball sized balloons. My fiancé Dustin thought this was insane. Even more so, was the fact that we needed a Uhaul to carry the pre-blown balloons to our photo shoot sites. So I convinced him to rent this Uhaul; of course he had to drive it. And I must say, trying to find parking with a Uhaul is quite difficult, but fortunately for us, the parking karma gods were in our favor. The Uhaul proved to be a really great idea, because we ended up using it as a changing room for our two locations, Park Tavern, and Golden Gate Park.
Phase 1: Park Tavern. It was a really nice shoot. What made this special was the fact that live patrons surrounded us, so we were in a very natural setting. Additionally, this was the café that Dustin and I had our first date, so it was definitely meaningful and special.
Phase 2: Conservatory of Flowers. What a beautiful setting this was, especially since we were chasing the sun, the natural non-direct light gave it a extra nice golden touch. The balloons were an instant hit and crowd pleaser. Spectators around us were in absolute awe on how nice the balloons looked. Jasmine took multiple shots of us in various locations utilizing the balloons to it’s maximum potential. When we were ready for our last few shots, Dustin tied the balloons down to a backpack so that we could get ourselves ready for the last shoot with the marquee letters. We turned away for about 5 seconds, turned back to check on the balloons, and sure enough, they were gone. Completely missing and out of sight. I guess he didn’t tie the balloons tight enough so they all flew away. Sigh - he felt really bad. Bye-bye big 36” balloons. We were a bit attached to them by now, but they floated into space by this time. Lucky for us, we got all the pictures we needed. Onto Phase 3 of the photo shoot...
Phase 3: Marquee letters. By this time it was about 8ish and the sun was practically gone. The mosquitos started to invade the area so we now had to finish our last shoot before we got eaten alive. So here’s the back story behind these DIY marquee letters... I like to think of myself as a creative cat. I didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on buying marquee letters, so I started to read tutorials on how to build these letters at home. I told my fiancé about it and he wasn’t convinced they would look nice, but ended up helping me build them anyways. So we went to JoAnne’s (Fabric and Textiles) and picked up these big 12” block marquee cutouts. From there, we drilled holes in each letter for the round bulb lights to fit in. Next up, we spray painted the base coat and then went with sparkly gold spray paint to finish the letters. Last step, we screwed all the lights in the letters and plugged them into a power generator - voila! They turned out beautiful. As you can see, Jasmine did a fantastic job utilizing her flash and the ground flowers, which popped out and were a great complement to these pictures.
By the time the shoot ended, it was practically pitch dark, and we all were ready for some food and called it a day. The entire process took a lot of creativity, planning and execution. My fiancé did a great job sticking with the plan and executing as well. In the end, Dustin and I were completely thrilled and amazed with the pictures. Jasmine put her expertise and special touches in, which resulted in an amazing shoot. We couldn’t be more thankful for Jasmine, the balloons, and of course, the Uhaul.
“….Wait what?” – Dustin
That was the conversation that sparked a single creative idea into an entire engagement photo shoot. Balloons, big 36” balloons were the idea. So I had this vision, a vision to stand out amongst a lot of the engagement photo shoots I’ve seen. I’ve worked with Jasmine Lee Photography before, and while all her work is amazing, I wanted something extra that would make our pictures pop (pun intended). So I had this idea of having some balloons. Now, these weren’t just any balloons, they had to be 36” yoga ball sized balloons. My fiancé Dustin thought this was insane. Even more so, was the fact that we needed a Uhaul to carry the pre-blown balloons to our photo shoot sites. So I convinced him to rent this Uhaul; of course he had to drive it. And I must say, trying to find parking with a Uhaul is quite difficult, but fortunately for us, the parking karma gods were in our favor. The Uhaul proved to be a really great idea, because we ended up using it as a changing room for our two locations, Park Tavern, and Golden Gate Park.
Phase 1: Park Tavern. It was a really nice shoot. What made this special was the fact that live patrons surrounded us, so we were in a very natural setting. Additionally, this was the café that Dustin and I had our first date, so it was definitely meaningful and special.
Phase 2: Conservatory of Flowers. What a beautiful setting this was, especially since we were chasing the sun, the natural non-direct light gave it a extra nice golden touch. The balloons were an instant hit and crowd pleaser. Spectators around us were in absolute awe on how nice the balloons looked. Jasmine took multiple shots of us in various locations utilizing the balloons to it’s maximum potential. When we were ready for our last few shots, Dustin tied the balloons down to a backpack so that we could get ourselves ready for the last shoot with the marquee letters. We turned away for about 5 seconds, turned back to check on the balloons, and sure enough, they were gone. Completely missing and out of sight. I guess he didn’t tie the balloons tight enough so they all flew away. Sigh - he felt really bad. Bye-bye big 36” balloons. We were a bit attached to them by now, but they floated into space by this time. Lucky for us, we got all the pictures we needed. Onto Phase 3 of the photo shoot...
Phase 3: Marquee letters. By this time it was about 8ish and the sun was practically gone. The mosquitos started to invade the area so we now had to finish our last shoot before we got eaten alive. So here’s the back story behind these DIY marquee letters... I like to think of myself as a creative cat. I didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on buying marquee letters, so I started to read tutorials on how to build these letters at home. I told my fiancé about it and he wasn’t convinced they would look nice, but ended up helping me build them anyways. So we went to JoAnne’s (Fabric and Textiles) and picked up these big 12” block marquee cutouts. From there, we drilled holes in each letter for the round bulb lights to fit in. Next up, we spray painted the base coat and then went with sparkly gold spray paint to finish the letters. Last step, we screwed all the lights in the letters and plugged them into a power generator - voila! They turned out beautiful. As you can see, Jasmine did a fantastic job utilizing her flash and the ground flowers, which popped out and were a great complement to these pictures.
By the time the shoot ended, it was practically pitch dark, and we all were ready for some food and called it a day. The entire process took a lot of creativity, planning and execution. My fiancé did a great job sticking with the plan and executing as well. In the end, Dustin and I were completely thrilled and amazed with the pictures. Jasmine put her expertise and special touches in, which resulted in an amazing shoot. We couldn’t be more thankful for Jasmine, the balloons, and of course, the Uhaul.
