Alisa and John's gorgeous DIY wedding is featured on Something Turquoise! I was so inspired by this wedding (and I'm not even engaged!) so go check out this post! Thanks so much to Jen at Something Turquoise for the beautiful feature.
Sherri + Mat in Malibu, CA
If I just wrote a normal blog post about how Sherri and Mat's wedding at Calimigos Ranch in Malibu was amazing and what an awesome couple they are I would be leaving out a huge part of the story. Don't get me wrong, Sherri and Mat really are great and super fun together. I even think that Sherri partially hired us because of our dog Kiki and that makes me love her a little more. At this point it is important to note that Sherri is also a wedding photographer.
When you're hired by another wedding photographer to photograph their wedding, it is actually really flattering, but let me tell you, the pressure is on. I would never do less than my all for any of my brides, but when another photographer is going to be looking at themselves in your work, it adds an extra layer of anxiety.
It's at times like these where I feel really lucky to have Adm by my side. The majority of Sherri and Mat's wedding happened right as the sun was going down, and so Adm lit four locations for their wedding: the ceremony and receptions sites as well as two portrait locations. Our final portrait location (at the carousel), was actually so dark that I had to have Adm hold up my cell phone in front of Sherri and Mat's faces in order to focus. He would then run out of the frame, and I would point that camera where I thought they were and click the shutter. While we're used to shooting at night a lot, there's usually some light around, like street lights, so I can see my subjects, but this was definitely a first where it was so dark that I couldn't see what/who I was photographing.
All in all, it was a fun and challenging wedding with lots of great people in a beautiful and intimate setting at Calamigos Ranch.
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Danielle + Ephraim in Santa Rosa, CA
Last year, when Ephraim's little sister Anna excitedly faced the prospect of living in the same city (San Francisco) as her big brother, she asked if she could live with him. To her disappointment, he turned her down, saying that the next person he would live with was going to be his wife. So, last fall, when Ephraim told Anna that he and his then girlfriend Danielle were looking for a place together, she knew (before Danielle) that Ephraim and Danielle were going to get married. And just like that, less than a year later, Danielle and Ephraim were married.
These two had a beautiful wedding at Vintners Inn in Santa Rosa, where the vineyards were lush and they couldn't have asked for a more classic Bay Area late summer day. Thanks to Cristina Heald of Heald Wedding Consulting, everything went smoothly and without a hitch! Congrats Danielle and Ephraim!
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Melissa + Donovan in Napa, CA
After Adm and I had such an amazing engagement session with Melissa and Donovan, we were really looking forward to their wedding in Napa. Unfortunately, Adm was sick on the day of their wedding, but luckily, our friend Brad Zweerink was able to step in at the last minute, and we had a great time photographing Melissa and Donovan's wedding together. Their day started at the Hilton in Napa, and when we arrived, Melissa and her ladies were all ready, with all of her details laid out for me to photograph and casually sipping champagne. Donovan and his guys were in the same boat as they were all ready to go and watching football just a couple of doors down. There was no last minute rushing, thanks to Melissa's impeccable planning skills and attention to detail, and this set the tone for the rest of the day as everything went incredibly smoothly.
The wedding and reception took place at the Napa Valley Country Club, which had gorgeous rolling hills covered in gnarled oak trees all around it. Everything happened at the perfect time of day when the light was best, and so it was a real treat to photograph these two, who were so obviously in love and surrounded by quintessential California late summer beauty. Once the sun went down, Melissa and Donovan planted themselves on the dance floor with their friends and family and danced the night away. This was a real enthusiastic dancing crowd and as the night went on, the dancing got crazier and crazier, which just made for super fun picture taking!
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Melody + Cyrus' Photo Booth
Melody and Cyrus had a roaring 20s themed wedding, so naturally, the photo booth had to reflect the 1920s as well. I personally am a big fan of 1920s styles so I loved searching for the props, and my grandma (who was born in 1925!) helped me make some sequin and feather flapper headbands. This was a really fun crowd that came dressed in style and had a great time tearing up the photo booth. Normally, we do photo booth pictures in color, but I thought that the black and white was fitting for this particular booth.
Now, this is a girl who dances like me, Isadora Duncan style.
Do these two below look familiar? They should! We photographed their engagement session, wedding and photo booth (the inspiration for Melody and Cyrus' booth) last year, and now they're expecting! Congrats Ginny and Sep!
This has got to be my favorite (OK, second favorite behind the top photo of Melody and Cyrus with the flying hats): How can you not love a serious kid with foreboding, gloved fingers?
Quick Getaway
We've got weddings up the gazoo right now, but to stay fresh and help us deal with all of the crazy, we took a mini break to Mendocino in Northern California. It was perfect. The trees, the sunshine, the food, the dog and the boy.
