Rew Elliott Style: Alexa + Galen : Angel's Knoll Engagement Session

Alexa and Galen's love story is one that truly makes me believe some people are just destined to be together. I love the idea of two imperfect people finding one another and coming to the realization that together, they are perfectly matched. As Alexa told me, "we have so many things in common, but more importantly, all of our insecurities that make us quirky or sometimes impossible to be around are what bring us so close together."

The couple were engaged in December 2011 after a whirlwind romance. "Our engagement story isn't extremely romantic or without some hiccups, but if you knew us you'd realize that it is a perfect 'us' story." And you can see it captured in their eyes in their beautiful Angel's Knoll engagement session. Read on for more of their love story...

My name is Alexa and my fiancé's name is Galen. He proposed to me on December 17, 2011 (for my birthday and anniversary celebration), and as corny as it sounds we both knew we were going to get married from the start.

He's actually my best friend's brother but I meet him at the church I work at. Even though I was in a relationship with someone else at the time we met, he told his sister and brother in-law that I was the woman he was going to marry. They tried to convince him that it wasn't going to happen, but he was convinced they were wrong. Luckily for both of us, they were. A few months later I was single, Galen and I began dating, and the next thing you know we are planning our wedding. With Galen there was no doubt or question in my mind. I truly feel that the Lord has placed Galen in my life for so many reasons, and every day those reasons become more and more apparent.

What was your inspiration for your engagement shoot?

We both love the movie "500 Hundred Days of Summer", so we went on a downtown Los Angeles adventure looking for the park where parts or the movie were filmed, but more importantly the infamous bench they sat on. Once we found the park (Angel's Knoll) we had a good friend of mine take our engagement pictures there. Neither one of us are much for taking pictures or getting a lot of attention, so I wanted it to be an intimate, fun, and relaxed photo shoot.

Do you have a special story about your engagement proposal to share?

We were celebrating my late birthday dinner one night. I met him at his apartment where he asked me to pick a tie to be blind folded with - because where we were going to dinner was a surprise. As I'm blinded folded in the car, he lets it slip that he made dinner, so I took off the blind fold and we were back at his apartment.

When I walked in the door there was a picnic set up with rose petals everywhere and a bouquet of roses in the middle of the quilt that we always use to watch movies with (and the one we used in our engagement pictures). He brings out my favorites: caesar salad, pasta, and sparkling cider (my absolute favorite), but the whole time he sat about 10 feet away from me (come to find out it was because his heart was beating so fast since he was so nervous and he didn't want to give anything away).

After we ate he casually asked if I wanted my birthday gift, so he went into his room and came out with a thin black box. I figured it was a necklace or a bracelet, so when I opened it there was a ring I start crying and said "no" (because I couldn't believe it was all real). So I looked at him and he asked with a HUGE smile on his face, "Will you marry me?" As I hugged him and cried, he said "I'll take that as a yes".