Basketball & Downtown Houston Engagement Photos | Monica & Jaleen

Meet these two high school sweethearts, Monica and Jaleen. She is a recent social work graduate and he is a professional basketball player. They are such a joy to be around and you can feel their love radiate around them. I’ll have the honor to photograph their wedding this coming year at the Springs Venue in Angleton. I could not be more excited for them.ff Read more about their story below!

What is your proposal story?

​”Jaleen and I are high school sweethearts and we had been dating for 7 years. We had always said that we wanted to wait until we graduated from college before be got married. On our 7th year anniversary, he took me on a date with my sister, brother in law, and my friend. He was super quiet and I was kind of suspicious! Haha. After our dinner, Jaleen walked me to a beautiful garden that was lit up. He got on his knee and asked me to marry him & I was such in shock I even asked him if he was really proposing to me, haha! Of course, I said yesss! It was a huge surprise to me because it was the summer of my senior year of college! We wanted to wait a year before we got married but I slowly started to plan on my own. That’s when I hired Miriam as our photographer!”

Favorite part about being engaged?

“My favorite part about being engaged is finally getting to marry my best friend and celebrating the love that we have between us. Jaleen is my soulmate and we are best friends! Over the years that we have spent together, we have created a strong bond. I am more than ready to marry him. Jaleen’s favorite part of being engaged is he gets to call me his fiancee, haha!”

What advice do you have for other couples planning a wedding?

​”Don’t be afraid to wait a year to enjoy being an engaged couple! We waited a year before we picked our date to be married. During that year I was slowly planning and I was not stressed out like others have described being. Have fun with the planning and always remember: IT IS YOUR DAY! Plan the day out how you envision it and definitely have people RSVP to your big day. Utilize the bridal guide that Miriam gives you! It has helped me a lot with planning.”

Makeup & Hair: Dominique Jimenez