San Diego Wedding Photographer | Chelsea + Juan

My absolute favorite thing about being a San Diego wedding photographer is getting to know my brides and grooms’  and their love story. How they met. How they fell in love. What they adore most about each other. Every love story is different. By knowing these important details, I can tell my couples’ beautiful love story and capture their wedding day in a way that is intimate and unique to them.

And besides, who doesn’t LOVE a love story? Enjoy!

Chelsea & Juan’s Love Story

Chelsea and Juan met while serving a mission in Chile. She was new to Chile and just beginning to learn Spanish. Juan’s parents were talking to Chelsea and her companion when Juan walked in and sat at the table. Chelsea immediately thought he was handsome, but at that time as a missionary her focus was her mission. She continued with her mission for the next 18 months occassioanly thinking about the handsome Chilean boy she had met. Juan continued working and studying. It wasn’t until she was in her last area that she ran into Juan again where he happened to be visiting friends. They exchanged contact information and a few weeks later she headed was back home to the United States.

Life got busy with school and work for both of them. It wasn’t until about a year later, that they got in contact again.  They enjoyed talking and skyping. Fairly quickly they both realized that they wanted something more. Chelsea had recently been accepted into her masters program and Juan had started working for the government. Juan told Chelsea that it would take a lot of faith for their relationship to work. When she questioned what he meant by that, he told her that he was Chilean, didn’t have a lot of money, and his English wasn’t very good. She told him that all of those things didn’t matter because she loved him, his culture, money isn’t everything, and after all her Spanish wasn’t all that great either.

Both Chelsea and Juan are faithful members of their church, so faith and prayer were an essential part of their decision to take the leap of faith and build a family together. They planned a trip for Juan to come visit Chelsea in California. Juan bought a ring before leaving Chile and on July 2nd in Lake Tahoe, he asked Chelsea to marry him. He returned home on the 4th and they began the whole K1 fiancé visa process. Many of Juan’s colleagues told him he was crazy for giving up such a great career to start life over again, but Juan had always said that family comes first. When the visa was granted, they were beyond ecstatic that they no longer had to do a long distance relationship and were now able to share life together in the same country.

Chelsea said  “That was definitely something that made me realize that Juan was the one. God and family came before everything else. Never had I met someone filled with so much love who was so willing to serve others and sacrifice everything for those he cared for. He makes me laugh and he brings out the best in me. It’s cliche, but he really is my best friend. Our story is not something you normally hear about but it’s ours and I love it.”

Engaged or planning a wedding? Contact me to set up a consult or inquire about pricing. 

Michelle of Michelle Popp Photography is a San Diego wedding photographer also specializing in photographing newborn, maternity, family, and baby photography in San Diego, California, Carlsbad, Del Mar and surrounding areas. Michelle is drawn to emotion filled images, beautiful light and soft neutral colors. Her passion is to capture that authentic beauty, family love, and connection in her imagery.