Marlene & Mark met while they were both college students at the University of California, Irvine. Their time together was short in Irvine. Only a year into their relationship, they moved to opposite sides of the country to pursue their dreams – 2,786 miles apart! Marlene moved to San Francisco, CA while Mark moved to Hershey, PA. But distance only made the heart grow fonder! Before they knew it, 4 years had passed and they were both back in Southern California with their friends, families, and each other.

Then, in 2011, Mark asked Marlene spend the day in Santa Barbara with him. After a beautiful water-front brunch, they spent all day together at the beach and took a romantic (10 mile!) hike along the shore. Being interested in photography, Mark brought along his camera and tripod, and the two of them made frequent stops to take photos together on the beach. On the way back from the hike, Mark suggested they stop and watch the sunset – so they put their stuff down and sat on the sand as the sun went down. As Mark had been doing all day, he asked Marlene to stand closer to the water as he set up the tripod and camera timer for another photo. Not thinking anything of it, Marlene agreed. She stood with her back towards Mark and looking out at the sunset. As she turned around, Mark was right there behind her, down on one knee. Marlene was shocked and speechless! Following Mark’s proposal, Marlene was finally able to answer “of course”!

Here you can see a small collection of photos from their engagement session at the Santa Monica Canals:

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Yair Haim Photography
Destination wedding photographer based in Los Angeles
(310) 993-1561  |  [email protected]  |  Contact page