Sweetwater Wetlands Park: Summer Engagement Session | Krystal + Elvin

Finding somewhere that’s lush and green can be pretty difficult to do in the desert. The majority of our rainfall comes over a brief time period– typically from June through September.  Southern Arizona has been fortunate to have an incredible monsoon season this year! The rain helps to keep the scorching temperatures somewhat at bay as well as diminish the outbreak of wildfires. With all of that rainfall, many places that are usually dry and desolate come alive again. Sweetwater Wetlands Park is always a popular spot in Tucson to relax and enjoy the outdoors, but it takes on a whole new look and feel with the summer rains. I was so excited to explore this location with Krystal and Elvin for their engagement session.

Getting to Know Krystal and Elvin

How They Met

Krystal and Elvin met during their freshman year at the University of Arizona. A mutual friend of theirs frequently hosted different activities like game nights and hikes. Through those social events and them both being members of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, they got to know each other and started dating. About 4 years later, Elvin decided it was time to ask Krystal to marry him.

Their Proposal Story

Elvin wrote several love letters and hid them around their apartment. There was only one problem… Krystal only found one! He was itching to pop the question, but it just wasn’t happening quickly enough. So he decided to give Krystal a little assistance. He then created a scavenger hunt to help her find the missing letters. After she found the last letter in the apartment (6 in total), Elvin told her he had made a dinner reservation for them. Krystal told me, ” It was at like 1pm or 3pm. I don’t remember exactly. But it was not dinner time.” Her suspicions were raised! She knew something was going on.

Elvin had made reservations for them at the restaurant where they had their first date together. After the waiter took their order, he handed Krystal one final letter. Elvin had the waiter in on it, too! In the letter, Elvin explained how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. At the bottom, there was a series of blanks:

“_ _ _ _  _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _  _ _?

From across the table, Elvin handed her a special pen to reveal the message written in invisible ink. “I thought it was going to say ‘Will you marry me?’ but it said ‘Will you stand up?’ OMG I was so nervous to stand up! I stood up and he got down on one knee and asked. I cried. It was all a blur!” The guests in the restaurant celebrated with them and one of them even surprised the couple with a bottle of champagne. Talk about a memorable proposal!

Their Sweetwater Wetlands Engagement Session

Krystal and Elvin chose Saguaro Buttes as the venue for their Spring wedding in Tucson. One of the venue’s main features is its ceremony backdrop filled with desert views and iconic saguaros. For their engagement session, Krystal and Elvin wanted to go for a different look and feel. Green! Sweetwater Wetlands was an easy choice.

Sweetwater Wetlands Park is a location that was on my “must visit” list, but I hadn’t gotten the chance to shoot there yet! I let Krystal and Elvin be my guides and asked them what place in the park they’d like to feature first. Krystal LOVED the huge green trees and I was all about their glow!

Along with all the greenery at Sweetwater Wetlands comes… well… water, of course! Another rare sight in the desert that got a moment in the spotlight. Krystal and Elvin also switched into their more casual outfits for the last part of their session. I LOVED the soft colors they picked out up against the green backdrop of the park.

Krystal and Elvin, it was so fun getting to know you both! And everyone that’s reading this, be sure to wish Elvin a happy belated birthday! Yep, his birthday was the same day as their engagement session and they didn’t utter a peep until we were saying our goodbyes. I can’t wait to see these two again on their wedding day next April.

Interested in having your wedding somewhere green in the desert? Check out this wedding at the Tucson Botanical Gardens!