Alisha + Alan in Santa Margarita, CA

Prior to their wedding, we had spent a lot of time with Alisha and Alan - both during their engagement session in San Francisco and during our first consultation with them at a dive bar in Woodside.  So, given their vivacious personalities, we knew this was going to be a fantastic wedding.  Yet, even with our high expectations, we were blown away.  During his toast, Alisha's dad said there are only two types of people in the world: Italians and people who wished they were Italian.  I can't say that that is true, but I can say that these Italians sure know how to have a good time.  Then again, I am a sucker for those moments when ALL of the wedding guests squeeze onto the dance floor, clutching one another and swaying as they serenade the couple with "That's Amore."  Yep, that happened.

Alisha and Alan's wedding was at Santa Margarita Ranch just north of San Luis Obispo in central California.  The 13,900 acre ranch has a fully functioning train originally from Disneyland, a herd of cattle that were happy to join us for our wedding party portraits, and the barn for the reception came with its very own barn owl.

If there is one thing that I love, besides Adm, it is an adventure, and Alisha and Alan's wedding sure was that.

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Lisa + Michael in Pleasanton, CA

You probably remember Lisa and Mike's engagement session that took place in Lisa's family's amazing nursery, yes?  Well, these two were just as much fun at their wedding, if not more so since they had their family and friends to cheer them on.  I don't normally think of weddings as events where people cheer, but I swear, everyone who attended their wedding was full of so much love and happiness for these two to tie the knot, that I got the sense they've been rooting for them all along throughout their relationship.  I'm a firm believer that we are shaped by the people we surround ourselves with and the community we choose to be a part of, and probably the best thing about witnessing Lisa and Mike's wedding was getting a glimpse into their community.  Their friends and family are clearly fun and goofy as well as full of respect for Lisa and Mike as individuals, and what couple could ask for a better foundation to draw support from as they enter their marriage?

Congratulations, Lisa and Mike!

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Tracy + Frank Engaged!

Before each engagement session, we go through a planning process with our couples to make sure we're going to come away with images that reflect them.  There is a lot of back and forth between us to get the locations, outfits, all those details just right.  Adm and I pride ourselves on how well we plan so that we can do a good job responding to all the little things that can go wrong on engagement shoots and even wedding days.

On the day of Tracy and Frank's engagement, our plan had to compete with reality. The erratic winds of the Marin Headlands caused us to abandon the beach and head back across the bridge.   After three stops in the Presidio we were back on track and scurried our way through downtown, chasing the light so we could hit Potrero Hill as the sun went down.  We may have broken some traffic laws, but as you can see above, we made it just in time.  Tracy and Frank are getting married this summer and if the care and thoughtfulness that went into their engagement session is any indication of the wedding to come, I know we're in for a real treat!

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.

Amy + Kamika's Photo Booth!

Our dear friends Amy and Kamika were married over the weekend!  Much much more on that to come, but for now, enjoy some photos and the video from their photo booth!  Need I reiterate that the photo booth is ALWAYS a big hit with guests of all ages?  Backdrop made by The High Five Factory.  Oh, and forgive me for the long lapse in between blog posts.  We are working round the clock right now plus we just moved (!!) so things are a little crazy right now.  : )

Kamika + Amy Photo Booth from Alison Yin on Vimeo.

Junie + Eddie Engagement

Why is it that some of our most memorable engagement sessions always include some kind of injury?  Well, we can add Junie and Eddie's session to that list as Adm came away from the shoot with a big lump and bruise on his forehead.  If you check out the ice cream photos at the bottom of this post, you'll notice that one is from a super high angle -  that would be me shooting while on top of Adm's shoulders.  Pretty impressive, eh?  Unfortunately for Adm, during my climb to the top, I forgot to hold onto my cameras which ended up conking him in the head.  Oops.  Luckily, I was able to somewhat crawl my way out of the doghouse by immediately treating it with a delicious ice cream cone.

But back to Junie and Eddie... these two were game for anything and total pros at having their picture taken.  Their wedding is coming up soon in November and we can't wait to see them get married in a round barn.  Yes, a round barn!  It's one of two completely round barns in the entire state and was built in 1891.  Be sure to check back in a couple of months to see that shebang on the blog!