Filoli Gardens Engagement Session | Elise & Ray

I had the most wonderful time with Elise & Ray at their summer solstice engagement session last month! Nestled in the heart of Woodside, Filoli Gardens and Pulgas Water Temple offers the perfect pairing of timeless elegance and serene beauty for this engagement session. We began the engagement session with a short trip to Pulgas Water Temple, a quiet architectural gem tucked away in Woodside. Surrounded by towering cypress trees and framed by graceful columns, the temple’s serene, almost ethereal energy set a romantic tone—timeless and calm, like a quiet pause before the rest of the world wakes up.

From there, we headed to Filoli Gardens, one of my favorite engagement location spots! As we wondered the gardens, I loved hearing about how they both met in dental school, the wonderful proposal story, and we connected on both our loves (and struggles) of gardening, with our favorite tree being the olive tree! Rose-lined paths, ivy-covered walls, and golden-hour light filtered through the trees as the elegance of the estate brought a sense of magic to the shoot, and despite it being almost 90 degrees that day, these two radiated so much joy and ease together. I can't wait to share more from their session below! Enjoy!