Meg & Ryan | Romantic, Ethereal Engagement Session at Glamis Sand Dunes

Jun 14, 2018

Charissa Magno Photography,

The doorbell rang. I was so excited and rushed to the door to find Meg and Ryan. I gave them big hugs and welcomed them into our home. We were getting ready to head out on our big road trip together to the beautiful sand dunes for their engagement session.

This session was one that I had been highly anticipating for what seemed like forever!!

They looked so adorable together, I just couldn’t wait to get them in front of my camera. :) Not too long ago, I met Meg at a Tuesdays Together meeting. These free monthly get-togethers are far from your standard “networking events”. They are warm, friendly meetings full of like-minded creatives, entrepreneurs and small business owners who are looking to connect, collaborate and learn from each other. What I love most about these meetings is that it’s all about community OVER competition.

There will always be another creative in your industry who is better than you are. There will always be someone who is just starting out and looking to grow. So once I finally stepped out of my “introverted butterfly” shell, I started coming to these meetings and it was a breath of fresh air to see so many talented business owners out there cheering each other on and completely open to helping one another.

It’s funny because I’ve always described myself as an “outgoing introvert” – meaning, if I step into a room full of people (example: networking event), I prefer to be a wall flower and try to look for a seat closest to the back. (yea..working on it). It’s hard for me to walk up to a group a people chatting, introduce myself and just join in the conversation! Anyone else feel me on that?

However, if someone approaches me and starts talking, I can talk with them forever and instantly connect like we were longtime besties. Why is that? Same goes for when I meet clients for the first time! I don’t get nervous at all and absolutely LOVE chatting & getting to know people on a deeper level.

The reason I give that background info is because that is EXACTLY what happened with Meg!

If she didn’t approach me at one of the Tuesdays Together meetings, who knows if we would have had the opportunity to chat and work together in the future! It really inspires me to step outside my comfort zone and meet new people! I’m so thankful for her fun, bubbly personality because it allowed us to connect. I’m convinced that everyone needs someone like Meg in their life!!

Meg is a talented branding & wedding photographer here in San Diego, which made me feel even more honored that she chose Pat & I as her wedding photographers for their destination wedding in Cancun later this year! Have I mentioned that I LOVE destinations weddings before??

If not, I do. I’m obsessed with them! I love photographing new places, cultures, and documenting a beautiful love story in a new place.

Ok! So let’s get back to the engagement session. :) Meg & Ryan came to our house and I noticed Meg had a little present. What!? She brought Pat a little get well gift! How incredibly sweet and thoughtful is that?

Pat recently had a scary incident and had to go the ER right before (which I’ll share more about that soon), so he couldn’t join us on the engagement session. :( But Meg & Ryan were able to meet Pat here at our house before we took off. I’m so thankful to get the opportunity to work with couples who have such genuine, loving and giving hearts. They brought the sweetest gift and we are so grateful for them!

This was my first time meeting Ryan – who is also such a sweetheart. They are perfect together! And when you spend that much time in a car together, you REALLY get to know someone. :) I would describe Meg as confident, thoughtful, empowering, adventurous and passionate about her work AND life!! She inspires me in so many ways. And Ryan compliments her so well. After years of dating and traveling the world together (16 countries!!), you can really see how truly in love they are.

Ryan is also a great singer and has similar taste in music to me! So we turned up the music and laughed together, sang together and had such a fun time chatting on the drive.

On our way to the dunes, we saw some cool looking rocks and pulled over for some shots. In the process, I totally stepped on a cactus (ouch!) but like I always say…. “Anything for the shot” right? ;)

Jumped back into the car and kept driving. We saw some wind mills and pulled over again. This time, it was in an empty dirt road in the middle of two highways. Just as we were about to take our first photo, we had a cop drive over to us and let us know we were definitely not allowed to pull over here…along with some other rules we were breaking. (oops!!). Luckily, he was a nice guy and let us take a couple quick pictures before running back to the car and continuing on with our fully legal photo shoot!

When we finally got the sand dunes, the light was just perfect. Meg looked FLAWLESS with her hair & makeup done beautifully by Sarah of Beauty Bespoken. She also had a giant, breath-taking bouquet made by one of my dear friends, Zeyda of The Little Fleur Co.

And the icing on the cake was her stunning lace top and Monique Lhuillier tulle skirt from M Bride and the super romantic, elegant, silk mousseline Willowby Watters skirt from the Bridal Showcase. Ryan looked dapper in his Calvin Klein and Egara suit that coordinated perfectly with Meg’s looks!

We all trekked up and down the sand dunes for the best photo spots. I mean…we had A LOT to choose from. Everywhere we looked was another gorgeous landscape.

The sun slowly disappeared over the horizon.

And my favorite part was right after sunset. The sun had set and we all laid down in the sand together, drank some wine and talked about what an amazing day we shared together. We talked about our dreams and our future and even tried to do an Instagram story (but it looked a little creepy as we shined our flashlights on each other to provide light) haha!!

Before we knew it, the stars were out and shining bright.

We ended the shoot with some creative night shots. And while I laid on the sand, the wind blowing little grains of sand into my mouth, eyes and nose…I felt so alive, fulfilled and thankful to be creating artistic imagery for this incredibly beautiful and amazing couple.

I hope you enjoy some of my favorites from this Glamis Sand Dunes Engagement Session! I absolutely cannot wait to share more from their wedding in Cancun later this year!!

Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,
Charissa Magno Photography,

comments +

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

COME ON now! Let's be PEN-PALS.

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

@charissamagno

JOIN OUR ADVENTURES

@pat.magno

ON INSTAGRAM