Simple love with beautiful portraits reflecting that. Today’s feature showcases that in the California gardens of Montalvo Arts – and we love this sweet story of how Karen and Carlos met while he was editing pictures of her in her living room … check it out below!
“This couple were supposed to have a wedding sometime last May with 100s of their family and friends, instead because of Covid, they had a zoom wedding in their kitchen. So to commemorate their union before they have their their actual wedding sometime next year, they decided to get dressed and have some gorgeous portraits in this Italian garden hidden in hills of Saratoga.” – Jessi Clare
How did you two meet?
Here’s a “little” story about us:
After many years living in the same town, little did they know they lived only two blocks away from each other. In life, Karen was began pursing acting and Carlos was playing professional paintball. Both were studying Communication at Los Medanos College. All this time in the same town, school, and studying the same major; yet, their paths never crossed.
Then one day Karen became nominated to compete in an acting competition. She needed headshots, but for a student, $100 for a headshot done by the college photographer seemed like too much. She called her mom and told her about the dilemma. A chain reaction then followed: Karen’s mother told Karen’s brother, Oscar. Oscar was a lunch with his friends, so Oscar told his friends. One of Oscar’s friends, Jasmine, then mentioned she had a cousin who is a photographer. Jasmine told her cousin. Jasmine’s cousin…Carlos, said he could take Karen’s photos at a cheaper cost. Contact information was shared and then the two later-to-be-lovebirds connected via text and phone calls.
Funny story: Karen now has learned that Carlos does this thing where he uses a more serious tone, and deeper voice when talking to people over the phone about business. Although he was not a business owner at the time, he still had the habit before then. This being said, after talking on the phone with Carlos, Karen imagined she was talking to a 30 year old man, well established in the photography world.
The day finally came for Karen’s photos to be taken. The sun was shining and birds were singing. Carlos asked Karen for her address, and to both their surprise, they found out they only lived 2 minutes away from each other! Two minutes before he arrived, Karen walked to her front door, wearing a plain purple shirt and some whatever jeans. She didn’t pay much attention to what she was wearing, but later she will wish she had. A white truck pulled up and parked across the street. Carlos stepped out of the truck, and Karen’s heart fluttered…
Taking headshots was fun but Karen was very nervous. She had this cute guy taking close up shots of her face. She hoped she didn’t have anything in her teeth or in her nose. Carlos felt the same way. A quick gig turned into a make-a-good-first-impression session. He ended up finishing the photoshoot and told Karen that he would edit the photos the same day at her house. Carlos sat in the dining room editing the photos all while Karen’s mom and Karen were talking in Spanish, but Karen and her mom did not know that Carlos also spoke Spanish. In Spanish, Karen’s mom told her to ask Carlos if he had a girlfriend, how old he was, and said that he was handsome. Karen laughed shyly. Carlos sat there listening to the whole conversation and his heart was pumping, but he couldn’t react because he couldn’t let them know he spoke Spanish too- at least not yet. What else would they say about him? As he delivered the photos and walked to the door, he said his goodbyes and also said, “By the way I speak Spanish,” playfully. If Karen’s face could turn red, it would have turned as red as Venus. It sure felt as hot as it though.
What’s your proposal story?
On December 22, 2018 Carlos asked Karen to marry him on his birthday weekend. He rented a cabin for their families and invited a few close friends to “celebrate his birthday”. Little did Karen know, it was all for him to propose to her. There was one problem: Karen got food poisoning two days before the party. She felt so sick that Carlos thought she wouldn’t come to the party, but she didn’t want to miss it. She would never miss a special day. On the day of the party, she felt horrible but still managed to have fun and put a smile on. A few hours into the party, someone mentioned that it was time for everyone to get dressed up for Christmas photos. While she was getting dressed, little did she know that everyone was frantically setting up an isle with rose petals and twinkle lights for Karen to walk down to. When she finally came downstairs to look for Carlos, she came upon the roses, followed the trail, to find Carlos at the end of it with a big smile…and some tears of joy. He was nervous the whole time he waited for her to come down and when he finally saw her, he started to tear up. When she got to him, he held her hands, looked into her eyes, told her how much he loved her, and asked the question.
Tell us about your attire choices.
We wanted it to be chic and elegant. Carlos wore another suit from generation tux and I wanted the modern look of a pantsuit as I didn’t want to wear my original wedding dress, and after shopping around I found this BEAUTIFUL white pantsuit at ASOS US.
Favorite parts of the day?
Carlos isn’t really the one to be in front of the camera. He’s always the one taking photos of me, so he was very nervous because he does not know how to pose. Getting photos taken by Jessi was so much fun that we both felt like we were all just hanging out, which made taking photos a breeze. Jessi was really great at giving direction for us to pose, which made Carlos much more relaxed. I loved that she captured photos of Carlos and me laughing at each other’s jokes and other candid shots. It really showed the love between us.
Photography: Jessi Clare Photography | Ceremony Venue: Montalvo Arts Cent | Event Planning: Perfectly Bubbly Events | Floral: Flower Story Gal | Stationery: SUN LOVE CO | Hair: Jireh Artistry | Makeup: Jireh Artistry | Wedding Dress: ASOS US | Groom’s Attire: Generation Tux | Submitted via: Matchology
