I have lived in Southern California for most of my life and had somehow never been to the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden.  I am so glad this was remedied this past week, because this place is absolutely beautiful and was the perfect place to start Angie and Gary’s engagement session!!  Everywhere you turn is just picture-perfect.  LA Arboretum has lakes, ponds, bamboo trees, waterfalls, rose gardens, open fields surrounded by beautifully colored trees, peacocks, coyotes, rabbits, and so much more!  It was such a blast exploring this place with Gary, Angie and her two daughters, Emily and Andrea.  They are hilarious and so sweet together!  The tremendous love they all had for each other was so evident and so beautiful!

LA Arboretum Engagement Photos

These two first met on Match.com back in 2008.  They got along great, but at that point Angie wasn’t quite ready for something serious.  So they spent the next few years occasionally emailing back and forth, but ultimately went their separate ways.  Fast forward 3 years later to the evening Angie and Gary reconnected due to a “supposed butt-dialing” on Gary’s part.  From her:  “We decided to give it a second try and had dinner at Limon in Simi Valley.  That night I just saw him very differently.  I saw him with different eyes and felt a different type of connection.”  And the rest is history!

From her: “This will sound very cliché, but I knew he was the one when I started feeling not whole every time he’d leave.  I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.  And still do, we spend very little time together, so I try to appreciate when we are together.  I can’t imagine being happy if he’s not around.  He makes me laugh and puts things in perspective for me.”

From him: “I knew she was the one when I realized I couldn’t live my life apart from her.”

The peacock jumped in for a quick family portrait.  How cute is that?!?

From him: “What I love most about her is that she is unbelievably patient, affectionate, passionate and honest.”

From her: “I love his persistence.  He is very driven and has goals and does not give up.  I really admire his dedication to work and how he does not give up even though sometimes it looks very tempting.  He’s caring, funny and ambitious.”

Tell us about the proposal!!

From her: “Gary planned a weekend in Vegas.  I thought it was comped from his timeshare and we took my brother, his wife and my youngest daughter.  He said we could take my family as long as he got to have one lunch just the two of us.  Turns out he made reservations at the Eiffel Tower restaurant.  (From him: “I was lucky enough to book table 56 which had a beautiful view to the Bellagio fountains.  I was pretty proud of myself :)”)  There were rose petals covering our table with personalized menus, I knew it was a special occasion but I didn’t want to get my hopes up, I’ve been waiting for that ring for a loooonnnnggg time :)  We had a wonderful dinner and delicious dessert and at the end, Gary (all nervous) finally got down on one knee!!!!!  I was so excited I didn’t notice the guy hiding behind the columns waiting for the big moment to take pictures!  It was perfect!  I was so excited I guess I didn’t say “yes” right away… hehe… A moment I’ll never forget.”

From her: “For our honeymoon we’re going to Belize!  We won’t be taking our honeymoon right away, we’ll go in March.  But we’re going to an island called Coco Plum Island.  Just relaxation, some snorkeling and laying out by the beach drinking sangrias and mojitos.”

What are you most looking forward to on your wedding day?
From her: “Our First Dance!”
From him: “Celebrating our big day with both our friends and families together for the first time.”

Angie and Gary, it was so lovely spending this afternoon with you and your girls!  You are all so sweet and the two of you are incredibly cute together!  I absolutely can not wait for your wedding (November could not come fast enough!), I just know it is going to be incredibly beautiful.  <3 

Love!
Stefani Ciotti