Kings For A Day
Talk about a day out with a fun couple. One of the real delights in being a wedding photographer is going to different locations in Orange County and Los Angeles with some amazingly, loving couples. I found this especially true with Angela and Eric. This cute couple is not only witty and smart, but also super playful, and that makes a day like today that much more enjoyable. The camera captures that essence and therefore the photos come out filled with life!
We headed out to Los Angeles for their Downtown LA engagement session at some of the more popular spots. We started the day at the Union Train Station, with its vintage chairs, high ceilings and marble floors; it just seemed to have that perfect feel to it. From there we traveled to the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Personally, I absolutely loved the modern architecture with its shiny metal walls. It made for a great adventure and offered a unique backdrop for Angela and Eric. From there we absolutely had to go to Staples Center, where Angela and Eric had to represent their love for the LA Kings (Go Ducks). Eric and Angela love rooting for the Kings together and, in fact, went to the Kings’ game later that night.
Angela and Eric are getting married this year at the Summit House in Fullerton and I cannot be more truly happy for them. They have a fun story…. Enjoy!
Angela and Eric’s Love Story
Q: How did you first meet Eric? Describe your thoughts upon first meeting him… was he goofy, weird, prince charming, etc?
A: Eric and I went to Mater Dei High School together. Although we were never friends, we did have a few classes together. We reconnected again after high school through Facebook. I accidentally messaged him with a “Congratulations” which was actually meant for someone else and the next thing I know we’re catching up…. and the rest of is history!
We went out on our first date on June 8, 2011. I remember being so nervous because he offered to come by my house to pick me up. He was also supposed to be there at 5:30 pm, but ended up showing up at 5:15 instead, which didn’t give me much time to get ready. I remember coming down the stairs and he was sitting at the kitchen table with this smirk on his face. It was an unforgettable look that will always be in my head. He was quite the charmer of course, carrying my golf bag to the car, having a bottle of water waiting in the side door of the car and he also opened the car door for me! We headed to the driving range and I remember being so nervous. It was literally a blind date with a guy I hadn’t seen in 10 years! He was completely normal and played it off like he wasn’t nervous himself. I even made him stand in front of me when we were hitting golf balls because I didn’t want him to see how bad I was at swinging. Then later he revealed that he was MVP in both our Junior and Senior years on our high school’s golf team. So that in itself wasn’t helpful at all! We continued with our date, caught up from high school, got through talking and laughing more, and basically ended the first date with a kiss!
Eric is one heck of a catch! I’m very lucky and very fortunate to have someone like him in my life. His patience, his dedication, unconditional love and support have been tremendous throughout our relationship. He’s absolutely genuine and he’s become the love of my life. It truly is remarkable to find someone who understands you the way you understand them. He’s my lobster!
“We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird,
and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours,
we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”
― Dr. Seuss
Q: What is something that you find totally cute about Eric?
A: Cute? Ha kidding me! He’s a real babe! Just kidding! So Eric loves to cook, but oddly enough he’s only really used to cooking for himself. He tries to get fancy in the kitchen doing the pan sauté toss where he tries to be this “chef” in the kitchen. Whipping up random, and sometimes delicious breakfasts or dinners. He’ll grab the pan and try to flip the egg using just the pan. Sometimes it works, other times the food will fall out of the pan. Haha
One other cute thing he will do is make a care package when I’m sick! He’ll pretty much drop anything to make sure I’m feeling better. From the orange juice, to Zicam, to even flowers and sour candy, and of course picking out the specific type of Kleenex so my nose doesn’t hurt.
Q: What’s the proposal story? How did it all unfold and were you surprised?
A: Oh man where do I begin with this? Well…for Christmas, Eric surprised me with a trip to New York City! I was completely blown away that we were actually going to be in New York in March of 2015. To make the trip even more amazing, my brother got both Eric and me tickets to see the LA Kings play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
We flew into NYC on Wednesday and, given it was our first night, we went all out! Had dinner that overlooked the New York skyline, walked around Times Square, and made it into an Irish Bar so we could watch the Kings game. The next day we headed for Brooklyn and wanted to check out The World Trade Center and the Financial District to kill some time before Eric had to meet with his “client” that lived in New York. I obviously wasn’t too keen on the idea that he was involving work into our vacation week, but he did give me the heads up before we left that he had to make it a point to meet with his client for a drink or something. While we were getting ready he had mentioned that we had to “dress up” a little because the restaurant we were meeting his client at was a bit fancy and it involved men having to wear sports coats. I mean honestly it was 30 degrees outside, how could you possibly try to look cute/dressy when the weather was freezing?
So we set off for our day, having a somewhat planned itinerary of what our day would consist of! Since we were heading into Brooklyn, I had thought it was a good idea to walk the Brooklyn Bridge, just go get that checked off our bucket list of things to do! Eric was very adamant about us taking a water taxi to Brooklyn instead, so we wouldn’t mess up our hair and make-up, etc. But since I’m so persistent I said “come on! Let us just walk the Brooklyn Bridge so we can accumulate more steps on our Fitbits and then we can check this off our bucket list!” So Eric gave in and before we knew it we had walked about 10 miles that day – and it was only 2:30 in the afternoon! But I didn’t care because we’re in NYC, we’re on vacation and by all means I didn’t care if we made his client wait – haha because we were on vacation so he’s on our time!
Being the tourists we were, I was picture crazy! Taking photos with my selfie stick (yes, I own two and I’m not ashamed) and just stopped as many times as we could to get photos of the city! Eric finally told me that we had to rush a little bit since we were a bit pressed for time. He busted out his GPS system on his phone to help us get to our destination. I was getting a bit antsy at this point because we seemed to have been lost! I kept asking him “where is this place? What is the name of the restaurant?” Eric’s response would be “just follow me, I think we’re close.” When we walked through the brick buildings, we just got this AMAZING view of New York, with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background! It was just breathtaking! We stopped, took a few photos, took selfies of course and I decided to sit down to take a rest. After all, we walked like 10 miles that day! I figured his client was meeting us by the Bridge, so I sat there and took my time.
Eric asked me to stand up and take one big selfie real quick. If you know Eric like I do, he’s never once taken a selfie on his own unless I beg or really ask him to take one! He just hates photos. Shortly after the photo, he grabs my hands and looks at me with his beautiful hazel eyes, pulls me close to him, and starts telling me how much he loves me and cares about me. I’m confused at this point, so I say to him “why are you being so gay right now?” He starts saying how I’ve been patient and whatnot. And here I’m still not sure what’s going on, but then he reaches into his jacket pocket close to his heart and pulls out a box, immediately my heart is beating faster than ever, I look right at him and say “OH MY GOD…YOU’RE NOT DOING THIS RIGHT NOW!!!” He looks right back, laughs, and says, “oh yeah, I’m definitely doing this right now.” He opens the box, gets down on one knee and I think he asks me to marry him because I’m in utter awe at what is going on that I couldn’t even remember what he was saying hahaha! I say yes, of course, and have him get up from his knee and hug him and kiss him. I couldn’t believe Eric Moore just asked me to marry him!!!
He and I are both laughing and just lost in that moment we had between us! He puts the ring on and says, “well I have one more surprise for you!” So I say, “oh what else is there?” Eric says, “look over there” and points over at this lady dressed in black with this huge camera in her hands. Eric says, “she’s been standing there since we got here and taking photos of us. Ever since we walked to this part of town, she basically captured the entire proposal.” I, of course, scream and start laughing at the fact that he completely caught me off guard. At that moment I realized we weren’t meeting with a client. Instead, we were meeting with the photographer who would be capturing one of the greatest moments in our history!! So in fact, the sports coat Eric was wearing was in fact put to use when we dined in at our celebratory dinner down the path from where he proposed!
The photographer took a few photos of us with the NYC skyline in the background and then took a few photos inside Jane’s Carousel.
I could not believe what just happened! Every girl dreams of this day. Every girl wants their story and I definitely got mine!
Q: As you plan your wedding, what has this experience been like? What’s your advice to others as they plan their wedding?
A: Wedding Planning has been so much fun, but it has its stressful and overwhelming moments! As time gets closer to the wedding, I sometimes wish we could start all over again. From the “getting engaged” part and then the planning from the beginning because I don’t want it to end. We’ve been having a blast discussing everything from the music to the flowers, to picking the venue!
The best advice I can give to others is to work together as a team and communicate your thoughts and feelings about planning. Once you both book a venue or something during the planning process, CELEBRATE!! Not that you have to go out and do something major, but definitely grab a beer together and cheers to booking the venue, or do something fun to reward yourself for planning! I think it’s a good way to relieve that stress from both ends and to also keep in mind that you’re having fun doing this together. Both the bride and groom-to-be should remember what a wedding is all about, it’s about YOU and having fun without getting too carried away.
Q: If Eric were an animal, what would he be and why?
A: If Eric were an animal, I would say he would be a bear because he gives the best hugs, and because he’s fierce and confident in anything and everything he does.
Q: As you have planned your wedding, what’s something new you’ve learned about Eric?
A: Ha! This is a tough one to answer without getting myself in trouble. Just kidding! Actually, he’s been super helpful and very active in making this day come true. We don’t always see eye to eye when it comes to things, but that’s okay since it makes it a little bit more fun in some odd way. It seems that when I get overwhelmed, he too gets overwhelmed, but never underwhelmed!
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