Sometimes all it takes is a craving for tacos, a chance, and a little intrigue to meet the person you’re going to spend the rest of your life with– and that’s exactly what happened with Stuart and Lauren, our absolutely AMAZING couple in this Scripps Pier engagement shoot!
Stuart and Lauren’s story starts with a chance encounter that seems like it should be plucked out of a Rom-Com with Lauren deciding to celebrate Taco Tuesday with her best girlfriends, while Stuart decides to go out with his coworkers after a client’s dinner. The two end up at the same location, and the two groups decide to chat, but Stuart ends up talking to one of Lauren’s friends.
But cue the record scratch… Stuart secretly wished that he was talking to the vivacious, drop dead gorgeous blonde woman talking to one of his friends, and decided to steal her away for a conversation that lasts hours. And who would that beautiful blonde be?
Lauren, the woman that he would end up marrying one day.
Unfortunately, Stuart only had a few days left until he had to go back to the United Kingdom, and his work trip ended– but that’s not where our story ends.
The pair ended up talking for hours every day, which led into trips, and trying to spend any way they could together. It only took one last trip out to the West Coast for Stuart to decide that he didn’t want to apart from Lauren any longer– he was going to leave his life in the U.K., say goodbye to long-distance, and stay with Lauren on the west coast for good.
Some of our favorite photos from this stunning Scripps Pier engagement shoot were taken at sunset; something that unintentionally ended up even more sentimental as it’s the time of day that Stuart chose to propose to Lauren.
Stuart and Lauren had decided to go on vacation, but little did Lauren know it was one trip that would change her life. The pair landed on Oahu in the afternoon, and decided to go out and about to explore the island before dinner– but it wasn’t long until Stuart realized there was only 30 minutes to sunset, and the count-down till when he planned on proposing to Lauren was quickly ending.
In an effort to get Lauren back to the hotel and not miss the sunset, Stuart told her that it “wasn’t safe to drive at night in Hawaii” and that they had to hurry back to the hotel to make sure they made it in time. Unbeknownst to her, he was ready to propose– and he was about to to it NOW, right on their hotel room balcony at sunset. Unsurprisingly, it was a quick and emotional yes, and ever since then they’ve been on the path to their wedding.
It isn’t often that our couples can say that despite being 6,000 miles away, they were best friends from the day they met– that’s takes a love that’s so unique and special, and we feel so lucky to have been able to capture the moments along the way to their wedding this March. Thank you, Stuart and Lauren, a million times over for letting us be a part of your journey, and for letting us get to capture a little bit of your story during this Scripps Pier engagement session.
You may also love our other engagement sessions at Scripps Pier, such as Rory and Sarah’s or Chris and Tara’s— I know we did!
