The first thing you should know about Riley and Aaron is that they have an “Adventure Corgi” named Sunshine. They aspire to do all their adventures together- hiking, paddle boarding, road trips etc. and I couldn’t possibly love that any more than I already do!

Of course, stating off Riley and Aaron’s blog with the above, of course you are probably already scrolling down their engagement session looking for an epic portrait of Sunshine riding a surf board, lit by the golden rays of a tropical sunset, but you’ll just have to wait until Riley and Aaron’s wedding next June for those epic Sunshine portraits because for their engagement session we snuck off to Kona and the trip would have been a bit much for that little Corgi, as young as she is.

But fear not, despite the lack of corgi cuteness, Riley and Aaron’s sun-kissed tropical Hawaiian engagement session was every bit as epic, and we’ve got the pictures to prove it!

Aaron and Riley met while attending University, both of them driven to work hard throughout college to be able to pay off their student loans as fast as possible. Working night shift alongside a grueling academic schedule wasn’t easy, but Aaron couldn’t suppress a smile when he told about how he and Riley would drag themselves to Sheri’s to enjoy Pie Shakes and late-night conversation after long shifts working throughout the evening and into the wee hours of the morning.

Aaron’s biggest goal in life is to have a family and create a life with them and he remarked that sometimes people are surprised that he and Riley are engaged so young, but while he lovingly looked at Riley while we stood with our toes in the sand, he affirmed that when you find the love of your life you just know.

Aaron had originally planned his proposal to coincide with a trip to Hawaii that was planned in 2020. Riley loves all things ocean, so Aaron knew an ocean-side engagement would be a perfect fit for the love of his life.

Unfortunately, with the pandemic getting in the way of almost all travel in 2020, Aaron had to get a little more creative for an at-home proposal still fitting for the momentous occasion.

On Christmas Eve 2020, Riley planned out an amazing scavenger hunt which ended in gifting Riley a beautiful pair of earrings and pulling out the ring as she turned to show them off to her mom. Aaron had a long speech planned out, but when Riley turned back to him and saw him there with the ring he felt the emotion of the moment well up and fell back to the simplicity of stating his love for her and asking her to be his wife. Riley, chocked up with her own emotion was only barely able to whisper a small yes before they embraced amid the celebratory joy of their gathered family.

With the spring of 2021 re-opening travel to Hawaii, the family vacation to the Big Island was back on and after recently booking me to photograph their wedding, they asked if I would be interested in coming along!

The ocean is one of my “happy places” so I of course jumped at the chance to photograph Riley and Aaron’s engagement session on the sea shores of Kona.

While walking along the volcanic coastline, laughing, taking photos and talking about their history, Riley kept finding little treasures- shells, a hermit crab, snails, and even a turtle! It was a joy to spend such a beautiful evening with these two wonderful people and of course we had to end off the night with a little swim in the sea!

Riley and Aaron will be getting married at Edgefield next June and I can’t wait! In the meantime, enjoy this selection of portraits from their Adventure Engagement Session in Hawaii!