Carmen and Jacob met through mutual friends in an interesting way. It was Carmen’s younger sister that had a get together that brought them together. Little did Carmen and Jacob know that they were connected in more ways than one before they even met. With Carmen having brother-in-laws that were in the Marines, that led to Carmen meeting Jacob. Jacob was currently on active duty in Twentynine Palms as a Marine when he got invited to a friends BBQ (Carmen’s sister). It was love at first sight even though Carmen and Jacob did not want to admit it to each other at the time. A few months later Jacob went on deployment to Afghanistan. When he returned he made being Carmen’s boyfriend official. A year later, he took Carmen on a sail boat ride in the Pacific Ocean asking for her hand in marriage. Good thing she said yes!

Fast forward to June 27, 2015. Carmen and Jacob’s wedding day! Surrounded by family and the beautiful, hot, desert sun their love shined brighter than the sun. With their ceremony at St. Francis in La Quinta I felt like I had the best seat in the house. Going up to the balcony to take a birds eye view of the ceremony. It was breathtaking! To see Carmen and Jacob surrounded by friends and family, and God as their witness, it was a tear jerker! I was happy to have the camera blocking my face. LOL.

Their reception was held at Desert Willow in Palm Desert and let me tell you… It was so much fun taking the golf cart, roaming around the gorgeous golf course, and finding the perfect spot to take formal portraits. Carmen was stunning in her Vera Wang wedding dress while Jacob was wearing a handsomely tailored suit. Watching Jacob twirl Carmen around in his arms next to the lake was a moment I will never forget. The love, laughter, and tears that were shared in that very moment sealed the everlasting love they have for one another. I asked Carmen and Jacob to describe each other in four words. Both having to take a moment to decide on their word choices, their answers were genuine and honest.

Four words that describe Carmen: Passionate, Beautiful, Funny, and Kind

Four words that describe Jacob: Organized, Kind, Productive, and Serious

What a perfect balance these two have. From being soft like cotton candy with Carmen and serious like an Xbox game with Jacob, these two have it all figured out.