Carrie and Phil’s wedding was one of those weddings where the stars just aligned.  Carrie got ready at The Viceroy in Santa Monica and her and Phil tied the knot at a beautiful sunset ceremony on the beach outside of their reception location, The Sunset Restaurant in Malibu. It was a gorgeous day and couldn’t have gone any better! Carrie and Phil planned their wedding long distance from Kansas City so Kelly Meyer of Kelly Michelle Weddings helped with organizing and planning all the beautiful details. She was so great to work with and was on hand all day to help keep things moving. Thanks for trusting me to document your love, Carrie and Phil, and thanks to Kelly and Ally for coming out and lending their photographic skills!

A bride after my own heart… bracelet from, you guessed it, Anthro!

Carrie and Phil opted for a first look which gave us plenty of time to really relax and have fun with their portraits.

A tip for brides- If you have the choice, pick a boutique hotel like The Viceroy for your getting ready location. A wall of plates? I couldn’t DREAM this stuff up!

{stunning}

I could have photographed Carrie all day.

 {If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it…}

Coordinator: Kelly Meyer of Kelly Michelle Weddings

Getting Ready Location: The Viceroy

Ceremony and Reception Location: The Sunset Restuarant

Florals: Roheny Canaynay @ Azul and Co

DJ: Damon Tadesco, Mobile Disc Music

Hair and Make up: Studio DNA

Wedding and Grooms cake: Vanilla Bake Shop

BEFORE WE START: I have made it to the final round of the Pacific Weddings Magazine “Hit me with your best shot!” contest. Basically, if my shot of Helen and Tyler wins then it gets a full page spread in their Winter/Spring edition. Voting ends on Oct. 23rd (yeah I know, I have NO idea how they think they are going to manage counting all of those comments with a contest that long but… hey!) so if you haven’t already and or you have and you want to give a 2nd opinion head on over to:

http://pacificweddings.typepad.com/love_notes/2009/10/vote-photo-contest-finalists.html

and leave a comment with something along the lines of, “My vote goes to With This Kiss!” … or whatev…

Onward!

I have been looking forward to sharing this shoot because I just love the feeling these images evoke! When Andrea emailed me and told me her and her sister Amanda (who was in my graduating class at Pres. and used to swoon over BSB and NSYNC and whoever else with me during free period) wanted to get some cool portraits of themselves done as a gift for their mom the ball started rolling with tons of fun ideas as to what to do for their images- they totally get what I am about and were ready and willing to have as much fun as I asked for! Thanks so much for such a great afternoon guys!

Another super cute couple from my whirlwind of Northern California weddings in August were Caitlin and Tim. I am absolutely in love with the area north of the bay bridge (so much in love, that our wedding location is up there!) so I was so excited when Caitlin called to inquire about being free to document their big day at St. Stephens Episcopal Church on Belvedere Island- just next to lovely Tiburon and my favorite, Sausilito. At one point in the day one of Caitlin’s bridesmaids asked her, “Is Meg a friend of yours?” and Caitlin responded with, “She is now!” Which I LOVE! Caitlin and Tim had an intimate wedding with their close friends and family in attandance- Perfect!

This next shot was captured by my awesome second shooter for the day Vitaliy. I was so excited to finally get to work with him!

Monica and Kristian had a beautiful wedding at the Long Beach Museum of Art in early September.  Monica and her sisters are crazy beautiful and I’ve had so much fun this year being a part of their stories! Early this summer I shot Gina and Randy’s wedding and it was so great to see them again.

Monica and Kristian are so much fun and so was their 22 person bridal party! Kristian was one of those super involved fiancee’s and it was such a pleasure to be around such an excited groom. I loved the Long Beach Museum of Art- it’s located right on the water and has a lovely grass patio that overlooks the ocean. A great sand free choice for a beach wedding.

Heather came out with me that day and we had such a fun time chasing around the gaggle of kids that were around- some of them were quite fiesty but all of them were insaaaanely handsome.

Monica and Kristian wanted to have some great portraits of themselves on their wedding day so they opted for a first look, which gave us lots of time to utilize all the areas around the museums property and even get some of the massive bridal party shots done before the ceremony!

{ Hi, Kelly – you’re the cutest! }