Our San Francisco Engagement Shoot
In the beginning of August, I started a 3-part series on our elopement. It hasn’t escaped me that I still owe you the third part, which is about our floral vendor. It’s long overdue, but I’ll leave that for another day.
If you haven’t read the first two, go check them out!
Part 1: Our San Francisco Wedding Photographer.
Part 2: My San Francisco Hair and Makeup Artist
Anyways, on to the point of this post.
The Engagement
Photos by Zoe Larkin
LC and I got engaged in 2023. It was a whole event with LC flying her friends over for the surprise. Looking back, I probably should have suspected something when a few of her friends were in town and staying with us at the same time. But honestly, I didn’t think much of it.
If she had hired a photographer, I probably would have caught on. Since we didn’t have one or even know who we would hire yet, we were left with just average photos of a really special moment.
And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that!
Still, we wanted to memorialize something. LC even made a book (a cartoon of our story!) about our engagement, and I really wanted to document that memory somehow.
And so we decided on an engagement photoshoot after the wedding.
WAIT, WHAT?!
Booking Our Photographer
Photos by Zoe Larkin
When we booked our wedding photographer, Zoe Larkin, we chose both the engagement and elopement package/addition. Since we booked later in the season, Zoe was already busy with wedding shoots. We didn’t mind waiting because we weren’t set on having our engagement photos done before the wedding. We decided it would be okay to do them after instead.
We stayed in touch and eventually landed on an October date. Even better, it ended up being the exact same day LC proposed, two years earlier. Zoe called it our love shoot, while I just call it our engagement-after-the-wedding shoot.
Location
We went back and forth on where to do the photoshoot. LC had her eyes on the Palace of Fine Arts for the longest time. I loved how dreamy it looked, but it felt like a location that required us to dress up a little more than we planned. I honestly just wanted us in jeans, something casual that felt more like us.
We looked through Zoe’s list of San Francisco engagement photo locations (because of course she has one!), but nothing quite matched the charm of the Palace of Fine Arts. So we went for it, styling our outfits and colors to match the vibe. Thankfully, it worked out B-E-A-U-TIFULLY.
Photos by Zoe Larkin
As a bonus, we also shot at Crissy Field afterward for those Golden Gate Bridge views, and we have absolutely no regrets. (Thank you for suggesting it, Zoe!)
Working with Zoe for the Second Time
In short, it was an absolute blast.
I mean...we knew it would be. After our City Hall elopement shoot, we already felt so comfortable with Zoe. The planning process was seamless. She provided prep guides, checklists, and updates, which were especially helpful when we were worried about parking during the government shutdown.
On the day of the shoot, Zoe arrived early, and so did we. Instead of waiting around, we got started right away. She guided us through poses when we needed it (which was most of the time, lol) and made us feel completely at ease. Without the stress of a wedding day, the whole experience felt fun, relaxed, and full of laughter.
We also decided to hire a Rover dog sitter for Cocoa during the shoot, as per Zoe’s suggestion. We were a little hesitant at first since we hadn’t had the best experience with a Rover sitter in the past, but this time it worked out perfectly. The person we hired was phenomenal and took great care of Cocoa while we were busy with photos. It was such a relief knowing she was taken care of, which made going for one location to the next easier.
📌 There’s no rule that says you can’t do an engagement shoot after your wedding, and honestly, if you haven’t done one, I highly recommend it.
Thank you for getting us these sneak peeks less than 24 hours after the photoshoot, Zoe! We are utterly obsessed.