Oh boy, this post has been a long time coming! I promised a lot of people that I would write about our nerdy celebrations. So I thought I would first start out with our Captain America themed engagement shoot! Then next week, on our 2nd wedding anniversary, come back to see all about our MARVELOUS wedding!
Our first date is quite the hilarious inside joke! He wanted to go see a movie together. Let me start by saying these two things: 1) He had no idea what he was getting himself into because the reviews weren't even out yet. 2) His roommates said, "it was a GREAT movie." That movie, ladies and gentlemen, was Brokeback Mountain. By the time we got to the tent scene, he's officially embarrassed and wanting to slowly die in his theater chair. As he likes to put it "Brokeback Mountain is not a first date kind of movie." The entire way out of the movie I'm trying to control my laughter and he's continuing to apologizing. By the time we get to his car, he says "if you never want to see me again after this, I totally understand."
We ended up together for 10 more years surviving life's highs and lows with each other. We graduated from college together and went on countless adventures when I joined Cirque Du Soleil. We started collecting Funko Pops which would continue to change our lives. All of a sudden I got sick, like deathly sick. We had no idea what was wrong with me. It took doctors years to figure out that I had a one in a million combination of an autoimmune disorder and genetic disorder. Anytime I had to do a painful procedure, Andy would refuse to leave and say, "I'm with you till the end of the line." I actually ended up created The Game of Nerds out of that rock bottom experience, and thankfully we eventually got back to a normal life. As we got closer to Valentine's Day 2015, he asked if I wanted to go see 50 Shades of Grey. He knew I had read all the books but I asked him, "Do you really want to open that can of worms again dear?" jokingly. Oh no, this man had a plan. He had my best friend and mother to my godson magically in town that evening. We had dinner at our house and then went to see the movie together. As I'm sitting there in the theater watching him squirm I think to myself, WHY IS HE DOING ALL OF THIS? HE HATES THIS! The credits roll, he stands up and tells everyone in the theater to shut up. "I took my girlfriend ten years ago to see Brokeback Mountain and somehow she stuck with me. I figured the only way I can top that is to propose at 50 Shades of Grey. So, babe, I ain't quitting you and I'm with you till the end of the line. Will you marry me?"
Needless to say, I said yes, and we went about our way of planning our wedding. Andy and I are both huge Marvel junkies. Since "End of the Line" had become our catchphrase for each other, we figured a Captain America wedding theme was the only way to go. Plus Captain America: The First Avengers was actually the first Marvel movie we saw together. Our photos were taken at San Jose State University. HAIL SPARTA! We both graduated SJSU with our Bachelor's degrees. We got so lucky finding Royce and his team at Blurred Line Photography. They are hands down the best! Royce took our vision and ran with it.
We choose to do both a formal and informal picture set. The Captain America Shield was picked up from a local comic book convention vendor a year prior to our engagement. It's life-size, metal, and extremely heavy. We eventually used it as our guest book for the wedding. At one point during the engagement shoot, I actually gave Andy a huge cut on his forehead during the "Hulk Smash" photo. It can easily be seen in most of our formal photos. We thought for a moment there he was going to need stitches! This photoshoot is also where we got our famous "shelfie" that won us the Funko Photo a Day Instagram contest. It's one of our favorite photos of us ever. I hope you enjoy our nerdy engagement shoot as much as we did! If you think our engagement shots were cool, our wedding photos are just as epic!
Vendor Information
Photographer: Blurred Line Photography
Photo Location: San Jose State University & San Jose City Hall
Hair: DryBar San Jose
Makeup: Sephora Santana Row
Informal Attire
Shannon: Hulk Shirt & Hawkeye Jacket (Hot Topic), William Rast Jeans (Macy's), Marvel Sneakers (Vans)
Andy: Captain America Shirt (Walmart), Ironman Jacket (Hot Topic), Volcom Shorts (Nordstrom), and Marvel Sneakers (Vans)
Formal Attire
Shannon: Dress (Kate Spade), Red Chinese Laundry Heels (Macy's), Heart Necklace (Tiffanys)
Andy: Complete Suit & Shoes (Men's Wearhouse)