Old Poway Park Anniversary Portraits | Zach + Nicole | San Diego Wedding & Portrait Photographer

Zach and Nicole are the kind of couple who will exchange witty comments and tease each other with affection–all the while still holding hands under the table.  There’s no fluff with these two–it’s genuine, to-the-point-kind-of-love. Their love story is real and beautifully honest.  Five years ago, on January 23, 2009, they married and promised each other  forever. I am honored to capture their love in photographs to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

We started the anniversary portrait session at a small, locally-owned cafe in Poway, CA. We then continued the portrait session in a variety of settings including the Old Poway Park at the train station and a rusty, old train car.  Read on to hear their beautifully honest love story.

Kristine: How did you meet? Tell me your story.

Nicole: We met in high school. Actually, we were friends throughout high school. We like to joke how we went to prom together, just with other people.

Kristine: Describe the proposal.

Nicole: There was no storybook proposal. We had been together for almost three years and Zach was getting ready to graduate from the police academy. There was a lot of uncertainty about what would happen if something were to occur while he was out in the field. Unlike wives, girlfriends have no legal rights if their significant other is hurt or killed in the line of duty. We had built a meager but happy little life for ourselves–we had a tiny apartment and three guinea pigs–and were faced with the possibility of that going away in the blink of an eye. So one night as we laid in bed, we decided that we should get married. No proposal. Just two people deciding to protect the life they were building together.

Kristine: What was your favorite memory from your proposal?

Nicole: Our decision to marry was more practical than it was romantic, but it was fitting. I am very happy with the idea of us as two equal parties coming together to make a decision about the rest of our lives. As much as I might tease Zach for the nontraditional way we were engaged, I wouldn’t change it.
Zach: I guess it would be how I knew Nicole wanted to be married to me, whatever her reasons were she chose me. Knowing that made the whole “proposal” more special.

Kristine: What do you love most about each other?

Nicole: I’m not sure if I can distill it down to one thing. Isn’t that the point, though? My love for him is the sum of many parts, and if one of those parts was more important than the others, what then? If it was his sense of humor, tastes change. His good looks, looks fade. People change over time, and if my love for him hinged on one thing or even just a few things, I would be in trouble somewhere down the road. I can say, though, that what I love most about us is how much fun we have together as a team.

Zach: What I love most about Nicole is how she pushes me to improve myself, she doesn’t let me be lazy or take the easy way out. She is everything I’m not, she picks up where I leave off and that is what makes us such a good team.

Kristine: What have you learned in your 5 years of marriage?
Nicole: Some days are good and some days are bad, but when it comes down to it you are both on the same team, and teams that don’t work together don’t win. (Kristine: I’ve had the pleasure of playing a board game with this couple, and I can attest that they play to win! HAHAHA. Here I thought I was competitive… 😉 )
Zach: You have to dismiss the little things that make you mad as quickly as possible. I have learned to consider Nicole before I make any decisions that will effect her even if its only in a minor way. It is most important to be considerate.

Before sharing all of this with me, Nicole said in warning, “I think that you might be disappointed about our love story.” On the contrary, my friend.  I think that your love story is genuine and beautiful, and should be shared with the world because it is unapologetically candid. I believe that if you peel the layers of love that is shared between two people, it should always boil down to two people committed to protecting and building their lives together.

Thank you, Zach and Nicole, for sharing your love story. Happy Anniversary!

xoxo,