With a wedding on the horizon, an engagement shoot can be an opportunity to try something more casual with your sweetheart. Gabriella and Charlton headed to Marian Bear Memorial Park in University City for a day in the woods captured by Suzi Jacobs.

Though she was born and raised in San Diego, Gabriella had never heard of Marian Bear Park, an open, wooded area with hiking trails, until Jacobs suggested the location for the shoot. “For both of us, the most important thing is that the pictures and the experience didn’t look ‘fake,'” Gabriella says. “We wanted something that portrayed us and who we are as a couple. We are both really laid-back and fun. There was a point in the shoot where Suzi mentioned something along the lines of dancing and since my fiancé loves to dance we just went for it. It just felt like we were on this amazing date and lucky for us, we have pictures of all of it!”

Take a look at their shoot into the woods:

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Photography: Suzi Jacobs