Janet and James are a very simple and relaxed couple, so for their engagement shoot they wanted to capture a very natural vibe that reflected what their day-to-day life is like. Caroline Tran decided to do a lifestyle shoot with them, documenting them hanging out around a gorgeous Hollywood Hills home (that actually belongs to a friend of theirs) that had recently been featured in Architecture Digest. It was all together a down to earth, casual but of course slightly glammed-up shoot.
The proposal: James and I dated for over seven years and I think starting from the fifth year I started to expect a proposal every year. I started to see my friends getting married and I won’t lie, became anxious. I knew we were still young and had many goals to achieve before getting married, but I thought it was time! We actually have a jeweler that is very close to the family, and a couple days before Christmas I picked up a call from him saying “Did you like my creation?”. Completely confused, I played along and quickly realized he was talking about “THE ENGAGEMENT RING.”
I was shocked and full of emotions and excitement but decided to keep it cool and not tell anyone, not even my mom. Now that I knew James had a ring for me I was constantly getting dressed up and expecting him to pop the question and being really silly. Months went by and still no proposal. Then february came and I kind of gave up and started to doubt things. Super bowl sunday came and we got ready to go to church. I knew we were having friends and family over for the game so I was busy preparing the house and rushed to church wearing no make-up and a hoodie. The sermon that day was all about love since it was the month of Valentine’s Day. My church is a huge church with hundreds of people, live taping and so on by the way. At the end of the sermon, the pastor called out a couple to pray for, ” Janet & James”. I thought, “there must be another couple with this name”. Looking around for this couple, James grabs my hand and drags me to the stage of the church! Having hundreds of eyes on me I was blushing and slightly feeling light headed. Not one hint of thought of a proposal, I really thought maybe James thought we needed some blessing.
Then the pastor asked us to briefly talk about our relationship and James said, ” I love her so much” . I was still super light headed and next thing I knew I see him go on his knees and pull out the biggest most beautiful ring in front of my eyes. It was surreal. It was as if I won a lottery but better. The words of “will you marry me” were completely blurry and I just remember tears running down my face. Then James pointed to a huge sign that read ” WELCOME TO THE FAMILY” held by his family which was a great surprise. It was the most perfect proposal despite the fact I looked terrible.
Janet wore a red sweetheart BCBG chiffon dress, lavender sweater knit & crochet shorts from ZARA, Aldo shoes / Makeup: Kelly Zhang / Photography: Caroline Tran
