Anyone who says your engagement session has to be basic is not your friend!

From the moment Aly first reached out to me regarding her May 2025 wedding, I knew the energy was different. She expressed that her and her fiancé, Jared, loved elegant and cinematic engagement photos and wanted to incorporate both of those themes as well as her Asian heritage into their engagement session and wedding photos. I was immediately living for the vibes.

After a couple months of planning, we narrowed down 3 locations for their engagement session: an elegant bar and restaurant reminiscent of an art gallery, another bar more akin to a kooky aunt’s quirky collection of random items she’d come across over the years, and an Asian supermarket. The stage was set for the most unique, cinematic engagement photos I’d have the pleasure of taking thus far.

An elegant beginning to a cinematic engagement session

Class, elegance, and richness at Juniper

Our first location marked off the first vibe Aly and Jared wanted to incorporate. Juniper in Birmingham, Alabama provided a great bit of classiness and elegance that fit amazingly with their first outfit combo. Of course both of them easily jumped right into the giggly, glowing energy that engaged couples always bring to their engagement sessions.

As a destination wedding photographer, I will forever love this type of engagement session location even
if it is a little more conventional compared to the other two locations we visited. The indoor bar offered a ton of versatility to us with its moody lighting and rich colors in comparison to the vibrant, glowy outdoor garden space just out back.

After maneuvering our way around the restaurant and sitting on a few too many tabletops than we should have, we headed up the back stairs and squinted our eyes as we re-entered the sunlight (queue the CGI skin sparkles) into Juniper’s garden area and nearby alleyway.

Their segue into unapologetic fun

Getting the cinematic engagement photos really started

Our second location was the House of Found Objects, a quirky bar that I had honestly never heard of before Aly suggested it. It’s jam-packed with the coolest retro objects such as old CRT televisions, neon lights, bubble machines mounted to the ceiling, and an endless list of other things. This is where their engagement photos started to get fun. 

This bar gave us such a different vibe than the first bar, Juniper. While Juniper felt refined and classy, HOFO felt casual, sultry, and colorful, almost like it was their passionate first time meeting. Having photographed countless engagement sessions in classic locations such as fields or urban areas, I got super inspired here. It felt like an intentional choice to go against the grain of typical engagement session locations–a place where we could really embrace the moodiness and capture the cinematic engagement photos they were after. The personality and ambience is what a destination wedding photographer dreams of.

After Aly and Jared kissed a million times and stared passionately into each others’ eyes a million times more in the front area of HOFO, we explored the deeper areas of the bar where the lighting transformed from glowy and colorful to darker, sexier, and more cinematic.

I won’t lie, this was my favorite part of their cinematic engagement session. Colored bulbs exclusively lit the rooms we explored, creating an inherently moody atmosphere. Just what we were going for. 

Inclusivity is always important

Incorporating Culture into your cinematic engagement photos

Given that I’m an inclusive wedding photographer, I oftentimes work with couples of a wide variety of cultures and love stories. Queer couples, interracial couples, non-traditional religions, etc. To me, it’s extremely important that destination wedding photographers make every effort to preserve the personalities and qualities of their couples while photographing their engagement session or wedding. Aly and Jared were no exception to that. Thankfully Aly came prepared with her vision which made that all the more doable.

After finishing up photos at House of Found Objects, we headed to an Asian supermarket in Birmingham that Aly and Jared frequent, Hometown Supermarket (AKA Mr. Chen’s). This was our final stop for their playful, cinematic engagement photos.

I quite possibly had them run through the aisles enough times to make all three of us dizzy. To be honest, though, I don’t think they would’ve had it any other way.

While we were in Mr. Chen’s, Aly gave me a tidbit of lore and culture: apparently Asian kids slap the rice bags when their parents bring them to the grocery store as they walk down the aisles. So, naturally, the two of them had to sit on rice bags and eat snacks together. This led to some parking lot shenanigans, too. Did everyone in our vicinity stare at us the entire time? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely yes.

Aly and Jared brought the most intoxicating energy to their cinematic engagement session. I seriously couldn’t be more obsessed, even two months later. Couples like these two make being a destination wedding photographer so incredibly worth it. I’m counting the days until their wedding and cannot wait to share what I capture on their special day!

We took way more photos than I was able to fit here, so check out the full gallery here!

Looking to take cinematic engagement photos straight out of a movie?

Let’s make it happen! Planning a wedding in 2025 or 2026 and on the hunt for a destination wedding photographer? Explore my wedding information, or send me an inquiry to start our journey! Whether you’re eloping at your local courthouse or have the grandest of weddings planned in Italy, I’ll be there for it all. I look forward to meeting you and documenting your love!