Lisa + Vina, an Ethereal White Sands Proposal

When sweet angel Lisa fist reached out to us about capturing her surprise proposal to long-time partner Vina at White Sands National Park, we knew it was going to be an incredibly beautiful moment to capture. We never could have imagined how deeply we would be touched by these two or how epic their day in southern New Mexico would truly be.

Vina and Lisa first met nearly a decade in 2012 ago via Tumblr as they both worked as graphic designers. At first they were both surprised with how attracted they were to each other (neither had been in a LGBTQ relationship before), but before long these cuties knew that they were destined for one another. After several years of long distance and then finally living together, Lisa and Vina set out to move back to the Bay Area together and start their next chapter.

We knew months in advance that Lisa would be surprising Vina with a proposal, but Lisa didn’t know that Vina would propose back home in California just a short time before their journey to New Mexico! When the day of their White Sands visit finally happened, Vina instantly said yes to Lisa’s proposal. We got to catch every sweet second of it and roam around this heavenly national park with these babes. And, as if the universe didn’t already prove that Lisa and Vina’s love was written in the stars, Mother Nature sent the most stunning rainbow over White Sands just in time.

We’ll forever be so blown away by those stories of our couples who make it through it all together, it truly is the biggest highlight of our jobs. Cheers to these angels, we can’t freaking wait to capture their 2023 wedding in Los Gatos, California!!!

Location - White Sands National Park
Rings - Brilliant Earth
Photographer - Alicia

Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

2021, a Year with ALP

After the truly life changing year the was 2020, we knew that this year was going to be incredibly special as the world finally opened back up for big weddings and celebrations of all kinds. Our 2021 couples filled our cups to the brim with the must stunning days that we’ll cherish for seasons to come.

If going back to a full wedding season wasn’t exciting enough for us, we were also beyond lucky to travel to so many gorgeous new locations this year. From the vast wine country of Austin to the dreamy mountains of Taos to the ever mystic Ghost Ranch to all the new little spaces in Santa Fe, our scenery was far from the ordinary. On top of this, so many of our couples were finally able to celebrate with all of their friends and family, an experience that we will never take for granted ever again.

Cheers to all the new adventures with the best couples in the most stellar of places, we can’t wait for all that 2022 is sure to bring our way.

Places the ALP Team Visited in 2021
White Sands National Park (Alamagordo, NM)
Bishop’s Lodge Resort (Santa Fe, NM)
Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Farm (Albuquerque, NM)
Four Seasons Santa Fe (Santa Fe, NM)
Camp Lucy (Dripping Springs, NM)
Ghost Ranch (Abiquiu, NM)
White Mesa (Rio Rancho, New Mexico)
La Posdada de Santa Fe (Santa Fe, NM)
Lighthouse Studio (Albuquerque, NM)
Camino Real Ranch (Austin, TX)
Breckenridge (Colorado)
Race and Religious (New Orleans, LA)
Hacienda Doña Andrea de Santa Fe (Cerillos, NM)
The Seraphim House (New Orleans, LA)
The Stakeout Taos (Taos, NM)
Sandia Foothills (Albuquerque, NM)
Taos Ski Valley (Taos, NM)
Sandia Resort (Albuquerque, NM)
La Fonda on the Plaza (Santa Fe, NM)
Tingley Beach (Albuquerque, NM)
Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town (Albuquerque, NM)
Sandia Mountains (Tijeras, NM)
Angel Fire (New Mexico)
La Mesita Ranch (Santa Fe, NM)
Hotel Andaluz (Albuquerque, NM)
Inn and Spa at Loretto (Santa Fe, NM)
El Malpais National Monument (Grants, NM)
Hotel St. Francis (Santa Fe, NM)
Farm and Table (Albuquerque, NM)
Ten Thousand Waves Resort (Santa Fe, NM)
Pecos National Historic Site (Pecos, NM)

Weddings + Engagements by the Alicia Lucia Photography Team
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Michael + Kieu-Vi, an Ethereal White Sands Engagement

When Houston sweethearts Michael and Kieu-Vi reached out to us about capturing their gorgeous engagement at White Sands National Park, we knew it would be an unreal evening. These two and their love for each other were an absolute dream to witness and we’re clearly still up in the clouds over this session.

These lovers have been together for almost 11 years and Michael was even Kieu-Vi’s first boyfriend! They were immediately smitten with each other when they first met and haven’t been apart since. Together they’ve learned to love the individual growth they’ve experienced after a whole decade of love. Michael and Kieu-Vi are making it last name official this fall in Houston.

We adore all of the breathtakingly beautiful evenings we get to spend at White Sands, cheers to even more magic at this gem of a location.

Location - White Sands National Park
Photographer - Bre

Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Wedding Inspo - White Sands National Park

We always say that New Mexico is one of the most beautiful places on the entire planet, so its no surprise that the ever ethereal White Sands National Park is part of that magic. From elopements to intimate wedding celebrations to engagements, we’ve been lucky enough to capture so much beauty at this natural wonder over the last few seasons.

About three hours south of our home base in Albuquerque, this incredible place is beyond otherworldly. Described as one-of-a-kind, White Sands is one of the only natural gypsum sand deserts on the planet. Upon arrival, this gorgeous destination holds both timeless history and the perfect blank slate for any couple or shoot. White Sands’ endless landscape of immaculate possibilities always leaves us in absolute awe and desperate for more adventures there.

Truthfully, we sometimes wish that we could just live at White Sands year-round, its immense beauty is unmatched and deeply powerful to us. We can’t wait to see which of couples take us back to this literal heaven on Earth!

Location - White Sands National Park

Real Life Love Stories + Styled Elopements
Ben + Chelsea, a White Sands Elopement (coming soon to the blog)
A Day in Dubai, a Styled White Sands Elopement
Scott + Moxi, an Intimate Wedding Celebration at White Sands
Jason + Natalie, a White Sands Engagement

Elopements + Shoots by Alicia, Ashley, and Bre of Alicia Lucia Photography
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Engagement Inspo - FAQ

Earlier this year we collaborated with our pals at Rocky Mountain Bride for a collaborative feature on our favorite engagement session locations, you can view that here. Following that, we opened up a Q+A on our Instagram for your questions on all things engagement sessions. We’ve sat down and come up with answers to all of your pressing questions with this sweet little guide. Cheers to all the newly engaged babes out there, this special blog is just for you!

Q: What’s the best time of day for engagement photos?
We prefer the evening light at dusk and into blue hour. This is when the light is at its most golden and softest, thus creating a very neutral, flattering, and most evenly dimensional light to work with. 

Q: How do you make sure your couples feels comfortable especially if one is more shy?
This scenario is actually very common and typically the norm, as we usually rarely have a couple where both the bride and groom are super outgoing and extroverted. We've had tons of practice with the more introverted and shy type & we’d definitely say that making sure you find a photographer/photography team that you connect with and feel comfortable with will help make things feel more natural.

A few questions to mull over when considering a photographer should include: What do you feel when you look through their website and images? How do they make you feel corresponding through email and phone conversations? Typically those feelings are good indicators of what you'll feel at the session. Are you going through the galleries and images and seeing that they are excelling in connection and interaction? Or are the images more stale and impersonal? Chances are that if you get those warm and fuzzy vibes while looking through their work & interacting with them, that is most likely what you'll get at your shoot!

Through the years we've found that keeping the session more active and finding ways for our couples to interact with each other by giving easy prompts like: “Scott look over at Emma, Emma look at us, Scott place your forehead on Emma's temple, kiss her cheek or anywhere but her lips, whisper your favorite breakfast meal in your sexiest voice, now lock hands and walk towards us, look at each other, look at us!” Prompts like this will keep the session light hearted, silly, and fun, taking the shoot away from a stiff, awkward forced vibe to having your shy fiance come out of his or her shell for a bit! 

Q: Suggestions for great outfits, designers, and style?
If you hired a professional wedding photographer, they should more than likely have tons of wardrobe and outfit ideas, suggestions and insight. With the ALP team, we gift our couples with a welcome box that includes a custom wedding magazine/guide covering things specifically like engagement sessions and wardrobe, timing, details and all things engagement session! A lot of our brides tend to wear brands like Anthropologie, Lulus, & Madewell to name a few! We'll cover outfits and styling in a little more detail below, but keeping it minimal, neutral, and something that is complementing to the location is always a safe start. You can always layer on accessories like a nice statement necklace, fun hat, unique belt or pretty scarf. If you are more of a patterns and bold colors type of girl (or guy!) then we’d maybe suggest keeping your location more simple to let you and your fiance's fun personality shine

Q: Speaking of location, what is the best location to capture all the southwest charm in New Mexico?

The Southwest charm is so broad and its hard for us to say what our favorite truly is . When we think Southwest, our minds immediately goes to our vast vegetation, the desert & yuccas/chamsia/cholla trifecta and the rolling hills and the views, but others think ristras, crushed adobe, and pueblo revival architecture. There is no right or wrong answer just tons of options so for the desert look, we’d go either far west for flat desert or far east for the rolling hills at the base of the Sandia mountains (that still provides the chamisa/cholla/yucca combo & where you can still get a desert vibe, strangely enough!). For adobe and ristras and that quintessential New Mexico look, we'd reccomend Old Town Albuquerque or downtown Santa Fe. Look through your photographer’s galleries and see what location you connect to and are attracted to the most. We put together a guide to some our most treasured locations with our friends at Rocky Mountain Bride, so more inspo, follow the link below!

Alicia Lucia’s Guide to the Top New Mexico Engagement Spots

Q What’s thebest attire for men?
This again ties back to personality and location chosen. We've had grooms show up to shoots in a 3 piece suit, rocking that dapper look, to grooms shutting it down in a jean jacket and beanie. Get with your photographer, nail down a location, and then base your attire on what the overall look your trying to achieve while still keeping your personality and the location in mind. 

Q: How do we make sure our style doesn't clash with the location?
As mentioned earlier, a good photographer will be basing the location options off of your attire & this is why good/open communication is important and constant correspondences is so necessary. If your photographer is not in contact with you or helping/preparing you for your engagement session, then we'd definitely re-evaluate.

Q: How do we incorporate props?
Cover that with your photographer first to make sure a) the location allows it and doesn't have any restrictions and b) that the location is flattering/complimenting to the prop you are wanting to incorporate. 

Q: How many photos should we expect to receive from one engagement session?
We typically deliver anywhere between 50-100 photos. 

Q: How far in advance should we book?
Our brides book their wedding dates with us about a year to a year and a half out with their engagement sessions being booked about 4-8 months before their wedding 

Q: What is the typical turn around for photos be? My sisters wedding photographer took a month.
We'd say that is probably average but we've worked hard to nail down our post wedding processing and have streamlined our process to a t so we can turn a round wedding galleries anywhere between a week to 3 weeks! 


Featured Engagements
Jason + Natalie at White Sands (Alamogordo, NM)
Chris + Ari at Los Poblanos (Albuquerque, NM)
Derek + Brigitte at White Mesa (San Ysidro, NM)
Trey + Clara at Old Town (Albuquerque, NM)
Paul + Carolyn at the Bosque (Albuquerque, NM)
Tom + Justine in Central Park (New York, NY)
Evan + Jocelyn at White Mesa (San Ysidro, NM)
Matt + Allie at a Private Estate (Santa Fe, NM)
Geoff + Jocelyn at the Rock House (Albuquerque, NM)
Andrew + Deanna at Nob Hill + Old Town (Albuquerque, NM)

Engagements by Alicia, Ashley, and Bre of Alicia Lucia Photography
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Jason + Natalie, a White Sands Engagement

When Jason and Natalie said they were down to adventure with us to White Sands National Monument we just knew how much fun this couple would be to capture!

Long before these Chicago sweethearts journeyed to our Southwestern haven, they actually met in the most modern way, on a dating app. And even though Natalie cancelled on Jason THREE times before their official first date, these two realized they were meant to be after an 8 hour date walking along Lake Michigan! Over three years, and one adorable fur baby names Bartlet, later these two are ready to make it a forever thing!

If their blend of genuine love (just look at the way they look at each other) and divine style (we have major heart eyes over Natalie’s couture gown) isn’t enough to completely enthrall you, Jason and Natalie are throwing an incredible Southwestern, boho-inspired bash at La Fonda on the Plaza this October!

Dress - Costarellos
Hair - Tiffany Link at Craft Hair Studio
MUA - Kata Baron

Engagement by Bre of Alicia Lucia Photography
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography