Sonja + AJ in Santa Barbara, CA

You might remember Sonja and AJ from their engagement session at the Stow House and old train station in Goleta, CA.  Or should I say, "How could you forget them?"  One of the things that seems to be pretty important when you pick your life partner is that you have a solid friendship with one another, and Sonja and AJ are knock your socks off best-friends who are in love and know how to make each other laugh.

Over Labor Day weekend, these two got married at The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, which was the perfect place to have their wedding.  The setting was intimate and naturally beautiful, a place that perfectly fit their incredibly personal ceremony which was presided over by Sonja's uncle.  In the backlight of the setting sun and shimmering leaves, Sonja got pretty emotional as she and AJ read their own vows to one another.  It was a beautiful thing to witness and photograph.  Once the ceremony was over, these two held nothing back as they partied the night away with their closest family and friends. Congrats, you two - we wish you loads of love and happiness!

Photo below by Adm:

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Sonja + AJ's Engagement in Goleta, CA

You know the look that couples get in their eyes when they are sharing a special moment together?  Well, we got to share a lot of special moments with Sonja and AJ during their engagement session.  They have that way of looking at each other where you can that these two are brimming with love and passion for one another.  Plus, they both have a great sense of humor, and check out Sonja's hair!  Yup, it's all real (I asked).  Lucky girl.

Sonja and AJ chose Stow House and the old train station in Goleta (just a little north of Santa Barbara) for their engagement shoot.  Since Sonja is from this area, she used to romp around all the grounds surrounding the ranch while growing up.  We had a great time romping around the grounds with them during our session.  There were so many fun places to shoot: Stow House, the South Coast Railroad museum and Lake Los Carneros with a wooden bridge through the reeds.  We're really looking forward to their September wedding in Santa Barbara.

Jaclyn + Andy in Santa Barbara, CA

Oh boy!  Where to start with this wedding?  First off, Jaclyn and I go wayyyy back to our softball playing days (yes, for those who don't know, I used to be a softball pitcher) when we played against each other's travel ball teams throughout high school before playing with each other as Tar Heels throughout college.  I have so many stories with Jaclyn - like this one time when our team was at the beach in Florida on spring break, and we sprinkled our coach (who was sleeping) with goldfish and then sat back to watch the gulls swoop....  Yeah, I have probably had the most laughs with this girl - she is ridiculous, but in the best kind of way, and a whole lot of fun.  Needless to say, you can only imagine what kind of guy it would take to both reel in Jac's craziness as well as add to it.  And lucky for her, Andy is that guy.  They are perfect together, and their wedding was an incredible reflection of both their personalities - they had games throughout the reception, in lieu of cocktail hour, they had "80s Power Hour," their dog Hogan made a special toast to the newlyweds.... the list goes on.  Since Jaclyn is one of my dear friends, I doubled as bridesmaid and photographer, leaving Adm with the bulk of the photo duties.  We also brought along our friend Justin Maxon to help make pictures so between the three of us, this was the most well covered wedding to date.  Jaclyn and Andy had a beautiful ceremony on a cliff called "The Bluffs" in Santa Barbara that overlooked the ocean, followed by a reception at Elings Park, which they transformed so that it felt like their personal backyard party.  After the reception, everyone headed to their favorite local bar, "The Neighborhood" for the after-party.  Jaclyn and Andy, I can't wait to have so many more good times with you two - you guys rock!

Ring photo below by Adm:

Following three photos by Justin:

Photo below by Adm:

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Following three photos by Adm:

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Teasers!

Holy cow the past few weeks have been busy!  As we sort through and edit all of the photos, here are a few teasers from our last five weddings: First up is Reshma and Jimmy's wedding in Pleasanton:

Next is Mary and Will's Berkeley wedding (with their portraits at the Ferry Building in San Francisco):

Then we have Johanna and Jack's destination wedding in Napa:

Followed by Jaclyn and Andy's wedding in Santa Barbara:  (note, Adm and our friend Justin shot the majority of the wedding as I was a bridesmaid!)

And finally, we have Marika and Felix's wedding in San Diego:

It's a busy time of year, and we're working hard to process everything, so hopefully these images will hold everyone for a bit!