Glamorous Beachside Engagement Session in Malibu
We want to know, what's your idea of the perfect engagement session? Well, ours happens to look a lot like this Malibu lovely from Betsi Ewing Studio. With assistance from OH STELLA STUDIO, Kelsey and Adam shared kisses amongst a picturesque backdrop and if that doesn't say romance then what does? It's one session that has got us dreaming in summer and you can get in on it via The Vault!
From Betsi Ewing Studio... Kelsey and Adam had both been living in LA since 2010/2011, but lived in different neighborhoods in the big, spread out city. Kelsey is an event planner and designer and Adam is a counselor for veterans, so it wasn't likely for their paths to cross.
One day in mid-October 2014, after previous attempts with on-line dating months and years prior, Kelsey decided to try one last time when she stumbled upon Adam. She reached out to him, which was so out of character for her but she thought he looked like a good person - he had a dog and was from North Carolina, a state where half of Kelsey's family resides. Adam responded the next day, although he later disclosed that he almost didn't respond to Kelsey because he was "over" on-line dating and saw that Kelsey was a former dancer and he coincidentally had his fair share of dating dancers.
They spent the entire day chatting and texting and decided that evening to meet for dinner at a pizza place near Kelsey's neighborhood. It's easy to say it was love at first sight and oftentimes, they tell people "we fell in love over pizza." The connection they had was unlike anything either had experienced before. They enjoyed each other's company which included lots of laughs and good conversation and they realized how alike they were - both came from great families, had a dog which was their world, had backgrounds in something creative (dance for Kelsey, acting for Adam), loved sports, being active, and also shared an extreme love for pizza, to name a few upon first meeting.
After that date, they became inseparable. They hung out every night and 2 weeks later, officially became boyfriend and girlfriend. 3 weeks later, at a concert at The Greek, Adam told Kelsey "I love you" for the first time. They were each other's missing puzzle piece. They never questioned the fast track relationship timeline that they were on because the saying "when you know, you know" FINALLY made sense to them.
By Thanksgiving, Adam had joined Kelsey & her family in Northern California and in December, Kelsey flew to New York City during Christmas time to meet Adam's family for the first time. Both meetings of families went really well.
With Kelsey's job in events, she often works long, tedious hours as well as through many holidays, so the inseparable couple did not get to spend New Years Eve 2015 together as Kelsey was producing an event in the Bahamas. However, after Christmas time in NYC, Adam and his family went back to spend time in their home in Charlotte, North Carolina. During this visit back home, he bought the ring. However, he didn't propose for awhile.
Months went by of dating and by the end of April, Kelsey moved in with Adam to a home in Brentwood. With a planned trip to Italy in September, Kelsey had somewhat expected Adam to propose then and Adam knew Kelsey was expecting this, so in typical Adam fashion, he wanted to surprise her. In early May, Kelsey had a big event in New York City that she had to be there for. It fell on Adam's birthday, but so did a wedding in DC of one of Adam's college friends, so he fortunately was able to visit Kelsey in NYC for 2 days prior to heading to DC for the wedding - an event Kelsey unfortunately couldn't attend due to work schedules.
On May 7, after many conversations about "the plan" with his mother, Kelsey's co-workers, and friends, Adam had devised a plan with Kelsey's co-worker, Karrie, to hop on a horse-drawn carriage after work with her. As Karrie & Kelsey were riding through Central Park, Karrie hopped off at a stop light and handed Kelsey a card giving her details about where to hop off and walk to.
When Kelsey arrived, she saw a crowd of people, an aisle of rose petals, and her (soon-to-be fiance) and oh-so-handsome boyfriend dressed in a navy blue suit amongst a bed of tulips with a saxophone player playing and a photographer snapping photos. Kelsey, however, was not in the best choice attire. She was wearing leggings, tennis shoes, a Gucci fanny pack, and a t-shirt that read "Can You Not?" While neither recall what either person said during the proposal, once Kelsey said yes, the crowd erupted and Adam's mom and Kelsey's co-worker hopped out from the crowd to hug and congratulate them. This was truly the best, most thought-out surprise Kelsey had ever experienced and there were a lot of "pinch me" moments to follow this proposal.
They spent the evening at a wonderful dinner at the Lambs Club in NYC, visiting with old friends that Adam made when he lived in NYC for 5 years. Kelsey, fortunately, did change her attire for dinner and was able to dress up.
Since then, they have been working on a wedding for September 2016 in Palm Springs. A desert wedding was something they both thought would be beautiful and relaxing. They are so excited to share their big day with their closest family and friends and can't wait to be married!
From the couple... With Adam being from Charlotte, North Carolina, and Kelsey being from the Bay Area, we wanted something that exemplified the true beauty of where we fell in love and currently reside because we won't live here forever. We wanted to create this memory for ourselves and also be able to share it with our friends and family. We both really love color but we wanted a beautiful, natural setting juxtaposed with a little playing of dress up and Betsi was the perfect person to capture this. Between the gorgeous rocks of El Matador beach, the sun setting along the Pacific Ocean, and our choice of attire, she captured some of our favorite photos of all time during what we all liked to call the "magic hour." Betsi completely understood our vision for what we wanted to accomplish and we could not be happier with the result!
One day in mid-October 2014, after previous attempts with on-line dating months and years prior, Kelsey decided to try one last time when she stumbled upon Adam. She reached out to him, which was so out of character for her but she thought he looked like a good person - he had a dog and was from North Carolina, a state where half of Kelsey's family resides. Adam responded the next day, although he later disclosed that he almost didn't respond to Kelsey because he was "over" on-line dating and saw that Kelsey was a former dancer and he coincidentally had his fair share of dating dancers.
They spent the entire day chatting and texting and decided that evening to meet for dinner at a pizza place near Kelsey's neighborhood. It's easy to say it was love at first sight and oftentimes, they tell people "we fell in love over pizza." The connection they had was unlike anything either had experienced before. They enjoyed each other's company which included lots of laughs and good conversation and they realized how alike they were - both came from great families, had a dog which was their world, had backgrounds in something creative (dance for Kelsey, acting for Adam), loved sports, being active, and also shared an extreme love for pizza, to name a few upon first meeting.
After that date, they became inseparable. They hung out every night and 2 weeks later, officially became boyfriend and girlfriend. 3 weeks later, at a concert at The Greek, Adam told Kelsey "I love you" for the first time. They were each other's missing puzzle piece. They never questioned the fast track relationship timeline that they were on because the saying "when you know, you know" FINALLY made sense to them.
By Thanksgiving, Adam had joined Kelsey & her family in Northern California and in December, Kelsey flew to New York City during Christmas time to meet Adam's family for the first time. Both meetings of families went really well.
With Kelsey's job in events, she often works long, tedious hours as well as through many holidays, so the inseparable couple did not get to spend New Years Eve 2015 together as Kelsey was producing an event in the Bahamas. However, after Christmas time in NYC, Adam and his family went back to spend time in their home in Charlotte, North Carolina. During this visit back home, he bought the ring. However, he didn't propose for awhile.
Months went by of dating and by the end of April, Kelsey moved in with Adam to a home in Brentwood. With a planned trip to Italy in September, Kelsey had somewhat expected Adam to propose then and Adam knew Kelsey was expecting this, so in typical Adam fashion, he wanted to surprise her. In early May, Kelsey had a big event in New York City that she had to be there for. It fell on Adam's birthday, but so did a wedding in DC of one of Adam's college friends, so he fortunately was able to visit Kelsey in NYC for 2 days prior to heading to DC for the wedding - an event Kelsey unfortunately couldn't attend due to work schedules.
On May 7, after many conversations about "the plan" with his mother, Kelsey's co-workers, and friends, Adam had devised a plan with Kelsey's co-worker, Karrie, to hop on a horse-drawn carriage after work with her. As Karrie & Kelsey were riding through Central Park, Karrie hopped off at a stop light and handed Kelsey a card giving her details about where to hop off and walk to.
When Kelsey arrived, she saw a crowd of people, an aisle of rose petals, and her (soon-to-be fiance) and oh-so-handsome boyfriend dressed in a navy blue suit amongst a bed of tulips with a saxophone player playing and a photographer snapping photos. Kelsey, however, was not in the best choice attire. She was wearing leggings, tennis shoes, a Gucci fanny pack, and a t-shirt that read "Can You Not?" While neither recall what either person said during the proposal, once Kelsey said yes, the crowd erupted and Adam's mom and Kelsey's co-worker hopped out from the crowd to hug and congratulate them. This was truly the best, most thought-out surprise Kelsey had ever experienced and there were a lot of "pinch me" moments to follow this proposal.
They spent the evening at a wonderful dinner at the Lambs Club in NYC, visiting with old friends that Adam made when he lived in NYC for 5 years. Kelsey, fortunately, did change her attire for dinner and was able to dress up.
Since then, they have been working on a wedding for September 2016 in Palm Springs. A desert wedding was something they both thought would be beautiful and relaxing. They are so excited to share their big day with their closest family and friends and can't wait to be married!
From the couple... With Adam being from Charlotte, North Carolina, and Kelsey being from the Bay Area, we wanted something that exemplified the true beauty of where we fell in love and currently reside because we won't live here forever. We wanted to create this memory for ourselves and also be able to share it with our friends and family. We both really love color but we wanted a beautiful, natural setting juxtaposed with a little playing of dress up and Betsi was the perfect person to capture this. Between the gorgeous rocks of El Matador beach, the sun setting along the Pacific Ocean, and our choice of attire, she captured some of our favorite photos of all time during what we all liked to call the "magic hour." Betsi completely understood our vision for what we wanted to accomplish and we could not be happier with the result!
