Mary + Will in Berkeley, CA

Mary and Will live in Los Angeles but came back up to the Bay Area (where they're both from) for their wedding in July.  They were married in the Berkeley Hills at the Brazilian Room, which is so serene and beautiful, it's hard to believe city chaos exists just 15 minutes away.  We headed back into the city chaos after their wedding (which was a morning brunch) for portraits of the two of them by the Ferry Building in San Francisco.  The wedding was absolutely beautiful, and there was so much love and happiness for these two, it was almost overwhelming.  Mary and Will are both incredibly giving and nurturing, and  it was such a treat to not only witness how excited they were to be getting married, but to also see how much joy they felt in having their closest family and friends with them all in one place.

Adm made the next four photos:

Reshma + Jimmy in Pleasanton, CA

Remember Jimmy and Reshma and their double engagement sessions?  Here they are again on their wedding day!  This was Adm's first wedding back after recovering from back surgery, so I was a little nervous going in, but he did wonderfully and his back seems to be holding up well.  We can't say enough good things about Reshma and Jimmy and their families - I've known Jimmy since my days at the Oakland Tribune (he's the sports reporter and we followed an amazing basketball season at McClymonds High School for a few months together), and I got to know Reshma pretty well after taking lots of photos of her for the e-sessions.  She is just so sweet and considerate - never have I had a bride more concerned with how I was being taken care of on the day of her wedding: she was constantly asking if I needed anything to eat, will I toast with her girls, will Adm and I stay to party with them afterwards....?  It's obvious that this is how these two were raised because both of their families were also incredibly nice and attentive to us.  At any rate, I could gush for hours about Reshma and Jimmy, so let's move on to their wedding!

Both Jimmy and Reshma got ready in their parents' homes, which felt very intimate and allowed for lots of personal moments and details.  They were married at Jimmy's family's church, St. Clements Catholic Church, in Hayward, and had their reception at Castlewood Country Club in Pleasanton.  It's obvious that friends and family are very important to these two as they were surrounded by so many wonderful people all day long and had lots of really nice moments with their friends.  Congrats, you two!  You guys rock!

Following three photos by Adm:

Photo below by Adm:

Adm and I collaborated for this ring shot (I held the branch of leaves while Adm made the picture):

Next two photos by Adm:

There was lots of dancing at this wedding, including some great moves by Jimmy's grandpa:

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!

Celebrating Marriage Giveaway!

Lori of Paper and Thread Studio (a lovely and independent stationery studio) posted this wedding giveaway yesterday (in celebration of Prop 8 being overturned) for one lucky same-sex couple getting married in Southern California.  As soon as Adm and I saw it, we knew we wanted to be involved and somehow show our support for marriage equality.  So, we are happy and excited to announce that we'll be providing wedding photography for the chosen couple.  We're joining a pretty incredible team of vendors so I have no doubt that this is going to be one amazing wedding!

To enter, same-sex couples can email lori@paperandthreadstudio.com.  Please include a picture of the happy couple and tell us a little bit about you and your wedding (including the date) and how winning this giveaway would impact your wedding plans.  Please note that this is open to same-sex couples getting married in the San Diego or Orange County area.

Here is the nice little blurb that Lori had on her blog about the giveaway:

If it isn’t painfully obvious, I love weddings, and I love them mostly because I love “love” and couples in love.  When I heard about the Prop 8 reversal, I wanted to do something to celebrate that fact that love between two people can equal marriage regardless of sexual preference.  Lucky me, I have a few friends that wanted to jump on board too.

One lucky couple will receive:

-up to 100 custom letterpress invitations (designed by Paper and Thread Studio and printed by Cleanwash Letterpress)

-day-of wedding coordination (provided by Swann Soirees)

-complimentary photo booth rental (provided by After the Engagement)

-an engagement photography session (provided by Melissa McClure)

-wedding day photography (provided by Alison Yin)

-personal florals (boutenierre, bouquet) (provided by Floral Occasions)

Dana + Marc in Santa Rosa, CA

Dana and Marc were married in late June at Kenwood Depot, an old train station in Santa Rosa.  When I arrived, I was immediately greeted by a flurry of family and friends who were helping decorate and set up everything for the ceremony and reception.  You can't come away from this wedding without feeling the immense love not only between Dana and Marc but also for Dana and Marc by their friends and family.  So many people happily pitched in to help out with the wedding - from good friends acting as parking attendants to helping set up and clean up to DIY reception decorations made by the mothers to heartfelt beautiful toasts by close friends to the lovely bouquets made by Dana's sisters to Marc's brother as the MC and train conductor extraordinaire to the gorgeous quilt used for the Chuppa and made by Marc's mother.  I don't normally blog a lot of details, but since there were so many that were so personal to this couple, I've included a number of them in this post.  Additionally, Dana and Marc had the best ceremony intro - a complete recreation of the marriage scene in "The Princess Bride."  Everyone involved in the ceremony was in on the skit and had their own line.  Here's a snippet to refresh your memories:

"Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam...  And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva...  So tweasure your wuv."

OK, enough yammering.  Dana and Marc, I wish you two all the best with lots of laughs for years to come.

Ginny + Sep in Fremont, CA

Wow.  Summer is flying by!  It seems like just last week when Adm and I were jumping on the bouncy bushes at Ginny and Sep's engagement session, and now it's been more than a month since their wedding!  These two have been so nice and fun to work with throughout, and their wedding was no exception.  Adm was still recovering from his back surgery so his father and veteran photojournalist Al joined me.  This was my second time photographing at the Palmdale Estates in Fremont, and just as before, the light was spectacular, especially for the portraits.  I don't say it enough, but I am so privileged that people let me into their lives to document their special moments and intimate relationships.  When I met up with Ginny and Sep a week before the wedding, Sep had a black eye (casualty of playing indoor soccer), and when he was getting ready with his guys, he was sarcastic, a little rough around the edges, and throughout, he hasn't totally been into having his picture taken.  But, when I swept Ginny and Sep off for their portraits, Sep almost became a different person - he was so sweet and loving towards Ginny, totally in love with his new bride.  I love that I get to see all these facets of people.  Ginny and Sep, thanks for trusting me with these memories, and Sep, I'm sorry if I've blown your cover.  You're such a great guy with a fabulous woman!

Photo below by Al:

Photo below by Al:

Photo below by Al:

Photo below by Al:

Photo below by Al: