Jenny & Boa
How They Met
Jenny: We met in Japan on a Japanese Language exchange program summer after my Sophomore year in high school and after his senior year of high school. We got to know each during the last week of the trip when the group traveled to various cities together. He asked me out at the airport the night we landed. He picked me up at 9PM—we got dinner and parked at the top of the hill in Larz Anderson Park where we could see the city nightscape of Boston. Sounds cheesy but we definitely fell in love that night.
The Proposal
Boa: My grandmother and grandfather got married on my grandmother’s birthday; my grandfather would always tell my grandmother that he was the best birthday present she ever got! My grandparents’ relationship was fantastic and Jenny always liked that story in particular, so when I found that my own birthday was around the corner as I was getting ready to propose, I decided to go with that!
Since it was my birthday, Jenny agreed to do whatever I wanted all day. We went to the gym, took Pepper to the park, went out for a fancy lunch, and I told Jenny that later on we’d be heading out to a picnic with Pepper. For me, the whole day was about playing it cool while the anticipation mounted. The ring, which was given to me by my mother, was hidden away in the house and ready to go, so I focused on having a simple good day with Jenny until it got dark.
After being out for the fancy lunch Jenny changes to be more comfortable for our picnic– she picks out an all-black hoodie with no markings but the words “YES” and “NO” in giant white block letters on either arm. At this point I’ve just gotten the ring out of hiding and tucked it away in the pocket of my almost-too-fancy-for-picnic jacket, and I can’t deal with this sweatshirt. I’ve never before told Jenny what she should or shouldn’t be wearing, but I managed to uncharacteristically suggest that she could maybe dress upward, a bit– she squinted at me but didn’t argue, saying that I have the right to eccentricity on my birthday.
Griffith Park Observatory is a mess. There’s a concert at the Greek at the bottom of the hill, so traffic holds us 45 minutes on the little road up the hill until we get to parking. The Observatory itself is shoulder-to-shoulder packed with people, and everywhere with a view is concrete– not exactly a place for a private, romantic dinner. Exasperated but not prone to getting hung up on details, I declared that we were headed back to the house for a picnic in the back yard.
An hour of traffic later, I’d set up a lamp and a picnic spread and Jenny had put that hoodie back on. I didn’t argue about the hoodie this time; I could handle this too at this point. We got settled to eat in the back yard and soon enough I had Pepper sit in front of Jenny, then I knelt next to her and proposed!
The Engagement Session
We live in Los Angeles now but we’re both east coasters at heart and our roots are in Boston. That being said we wanted to do our engagement session somewhere meaningful to us as a couple and not just because a location was a beautiful landmark or historical area. Larz Anderson is where we had our first date, shared our first kiss, fell in love. It really was a special experience being able to do our engagement session at Larz Anderson after all those years.
The Engagement Ring
Boa: I was looking at rings on Etsy and at a few local vintage shops, and when I had a handful of options I brought pictures to my Mom for guidance. She flew into a rage, incensed that I would consider picking up some ring somewhere instead of taking the one she’d been wearing, which my grandmother had helped my father pick out and which I’d grown up seeing my Mom wear. This was the plan, she said. This plan was never discussed with me, but I certainly wasn’t going to argue.
Jenny: I never thought that I would be getting my mother in law’s wedding ring. That means the world to me and to us. The ring is everything I could’ve ever dreamed of. It’s simple and elegant.
The Photographer
Daniela from Daniela Dawson Photography
“Jenny & Boa’s love story is incredibly inspiring and the two of them are such a joy to be around! Their love comes through every interaction with them (and with every photo taken of them!) They’ve felt like old friends since the moment we met (and I think they have this effect on everyone they interact with – they are so warm and joyful.) I LOVED everything about this shoot, from the whimsical vine-wrapped old buildings, perfect early-summer foliage, Jenny’s flowy dresses and J+B’s dancing without any music! It was especially romantic, since we shot at the location where J+B had their very first date, TEN years ago! I feel like I’ve lucked out finding great clients who will also be my lifelong friends. Have I mentioned how much I love these two?!”
