Hello Monday! We are beyond thrilled to share this Baltimore engagement session by our Pretty Perfect Vendor– Wale Ariztos. The bride Titi is a loyal Aisle Perfect reader (so you already know she has great taste *ahem*). The couple took portraits in and around Hotel Monaco in Baltimore, Maryland. I don’t think I have to say anything about Titi and Kiyon’s chemistry- the proof is in the pictures for sure. Every single one of these shots makes you feel the couple’s love which of course speaks to the awesomeness of the photographer (Wale Ariztos) as well. It’s the perfect way to start the week. Enjoy!
From the Bride:
For several years prior to getting engaged, I had followed photographer Wale Ariztos’s blog and marvelled at how his pictures seem to capture all the emotion and action that unfolds before his camera. When Kiyon proposed, I told him almost immediately that photography was the most important thing to me about the whole wedding experience. When we met with Wale, we knew he was the perfect (and obvious) choice for us. We felt he really understood us and what we wanted to get both out of our engagement shoot and our wedding photographs.
Wale suggested that we shoot at the Hotel Monaco in Baltimore and as soon as I looked it up, I knew the pictures would be amazing. However, because our shoot was scheduled for February, I was really nervous about the weather being too cold for outdoor photographs, but God totally blessed us with the most amazing day ever! We were able to take photographs around the Baltimore Harbor without coats for as long as was needed. We had so much fun that day and it truly drove home the importance of investing in an awesome photographer. Wale made us feel comfortable in what could have been an awkward experience by giving us a ton of direction so that our photos would be amazing; he also has an amazing eye for finding unique places to take photographs rather than going for the obvious, cliche locations (for example, most of our outdoor shots were taken at the Harbor but you would never know it because of all the less obvious nooks and crannies he found). We are totally in love with how the photographs came out.
How He Asked
On June 1st, 2013, seven years after we started dating, Kiyon told me he had planned a “date day” for the two of us. Although he wouldn’t tell me exactly what we were going to be doing, I remember Kiyon telling me it wasn’t going to be anything too special or out of the norm. The thought crossed my mind briefly that Kiyon might propose but I quickly dismissed it as he was being absolutely too casual! Anyone who knows Kiyon knows that he is the type of person who would want everything to be perfect for something as major as a proposal and jeans on a random Saturday afternoon just didn’t fit with his M.O.!
Early in the afternoon we headed out and drove past Baltimore to Martins Airport. Kiyon has always been interested in planes so he told me that he was just there to inquire about flight lessons and left me in the car to speak to someone in the office. A few minutes later he came out with a gentleman who invited me to get out of the car and said “Are you ready to go up?” “Go up where?” I asked with a look of total confusion. “We’re going to take a flight!” he said. Before I could protest, I found myself strapped into a four-seater private plane with Kiyon next to the pilot as we took off down the runway! I watched with amazement as the pilot allowed Kiyon to take over the controls and fly us smoothly over Annapolis. Somewhere over the Chesapeake Bay, he turned to me, pulled a ring box out of his pocket and asked me to marry him. Without missing a beat (although in total shock!) I said “Yes!” through tears of joy and the rest, as they say, is history!
Wale Ariztos Photography is a member of our Pretty Perfect Vendor Guide– A curated collection of trusted wedding vendors. You can check out their page (click here) and see more wedding vendors here.
