Alyssa + Drew in Berkeley, CA

Alyssa and Drew really turned on the waterworks during their ceremony at the Brazil Room in Tilden Regional Park.  Their crying though was a mix of tears with lots of laughter, and it's always so fun for us to see our couples this much in love.  Plus, it's a little fun to tease them about it too.  Sorry, Drew.

We've had quite the adventure with Alyssa and Drew as their engagement session will attest.  This time around we managed to get them lost among the trees in the Botanical Gardens in the Berkeley hills.  We've had so much fun working with these two throughout, and we're sure their marriage will be filled with a ton of fun and hopefully lots of tears of joy.  Congratulations, you two!

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Kamika + Amy in Oakland, CA

Happy New Year!!  Adm and I hope everyone's 2013 is off to a super start!  After taking a mini hiatus from blogging to celebrate the holidays, we've got a bunch of weddings from 2012 to share with you in the coming weeks and lots of fun weddings coming up in 2013.  So, without further ado, here are images from our dear friends, Kamika and Amy's Oakland wedding!

I can't talk about Kamika and Amy without sharing the time that they brought over chili and ate with Adm and I on our living room floor.  We had our meal on the floor because Adm had a blown disc in his back and hadn't been able to move because of the pain for a month. This was just days before he underwent emergency back surgery.  We hadn't smiled or laughed in weeks, but Kamika and Amy made us feel like life was normal again and we weren't going through our misery alone.  What a blessing it is to have friends who can flood your darkest days with sunshine.  Photographing their wedding and sharing in their joy completely reminded me why I love what we do, and we could not be happier for these two exceptional women.

Our lovely brides had their beautiful ceremony at the Skyline United Church of Christ overlooking the Oakland hills through a grand wall of glass. On the way to the reception, we stopped at an overlook and photographed Kamika and Amy with all the lights of Oakland and San Francisco twinkling behind them.  We finished off the evening down the hill at the Sequoyah Country Club for the reception and dancing.

Winnie + Wallen in Oakland, Calif.

I don't know if I have made this clear before or not, but I am a total sucker for dogs.  Oh wait, of course I have!  So, when I found out that Winnie and Wallen planned for their two Corgi pups to make an appearance for their portraits I was a little bit excited. Why wouldn't you have the furry members of your family take part in your big day?

Winnie and Wallen had their wedding at the Mills College Chapel in Oakland, and we photographed their portraits among the beautiful buildings and trees on campus.  Later, we snuck them away from their reception at East Ocean in Alameda for some sunset portraits along the water looking out to San Francisco.  Congratulations, Winnie and Wallen!!!

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Hillary and Matt are having a baby!!

Gosh, remember these two from when we first started our blog and photographing weddings back in 2009??  Time flies and they're now expecting Baby Stevens, who is due this Wednesday!  We just love being able to document all of these big deal events for our couples plus we love that we get to stay in touch with everybody!  Send Hillary and Matt lots and lots of smooth delivery vibes this week, OK?!!

Aileen + Louis in Berkeley, CA

Each time I meet with potential clients, I try to impress upon them how important it is for them to feel comfortable hanging out with their wedding photographers, well, us.  On the most special day of your life, you definitely do not want to spend your wedding day with people you're not completely at ease with.  Aileen and Louis are a great example of a perfect fit with Adm and me.  We felt like we were spending time with friends and you can see from the photos that everyone was able to be their natural selves, which always makes for the best moments.

When Aileen's mom first found out about Louis (these two started dating in college), she initially thought her daughter was going to run off and elope.  Well, that didn't happen, and here these two are, almost ten years later.  Instead, her mom got to put her mother's pearls on Aileen's wrist just before watching them get married at Corpus Christi Church by the same priest who married her to Aileen's father a generation earlier.  There were so many sweet touches to this wedding - even the suitcase that was on display to receive postcards for the newlyweds was a part of Aileen's family history as it was the same case her grandfather used when he emigrated from Ireland to the United States.

And, there were many contributions from Louis' side as well.  For starters, Louis was in charge of the music, and he picked a killer bluegrass band to play for their cocktail hour followed by a funk, soul and rock 'n roll nine-piece party band for the reception.  I mean, you can't really go wrong when you hire a band called "the Floorshakers," can you?  Oh, and while Aileen may have been planning her wedding since she was a little girl, there's no way she could have ever planned for Louis' father's incredible rendition of "What a Wonderful World."

Okay, I could go on and on, but I think that I have gushed enough.  Onwards to pictures...

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Ngoc + Steve Engagement

When it comes to engagement shoots, it's no standard day at the office for Adm and me.  Even when we know the locations, the situations often hold many surprises, and Ngoc and Steve's session was no exception.

When we pulled up to meet with Ngoc and Steve, Steve was hastily taking shots in the car.  OK, I kid I kid - there were no shots, but he was downing a beer as part of his mental preparation to get through what he thought was going to be a difficult portrait session.  I find that lots of my grooms are not always keen on having their picture taken so while I don't flat out tell them to drink to loosen up before our shoots, if they voluntarily opt for it, then let's just say I don't discourage it.

We started off getting lost among the cacti at the UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens before heading across the street to the Redwood Amphitheater (one of my personal favorites!) where we found ourselves completely alone with some very beautiful light.

Next we drove down the hill to Ngoc and Steve's alma mater, Cal, where Steve treated us to VIP parking, albeit in a construction zone.  Normally I wouldn't consider mentioning a parking spot, but finding a prime parking spot on campus, though technically illegal, is pretty amazing.  We finished the evening with Ngoc and Steve in the Berkeley hills where we were treated to a sweeping view of the Bay, and at the end of the session, Steve actually admitted that he really enjoyed it (which is a total success in my book!).  These two are getting hitched in December so stay tuned for wedding photos to come!