Heather and Brian : A Palm Springs wedding dear to my heart

My darling Heather, In this crazy world somehow our paths have always been oddly parallel ....intersecting at times, diverging at others, but when it really mattered; parallel. We've watched each other sink and swim and laugh and cry and falter and steady and hurt and heal and on and on and on ...

I know you .. I've photographed you what feels like a million times. I've got your good side memorized and have figured out how to capture that ridiculously beautiful bouncy hair. So when you told me of your intimate wedding plans and asked me to be the one to document it all- my nerves even surprised me.

"Of course, of course, " I said. When I was really thinking... "Are you sure about this? These are your wedding photos! Do you even like my work? Oh, god. What if I mess up?!" It's almost as if I forgot that one, you love me and two, I do this for a living- that I have actually shot a wedding before. That and (gasp!) the fact that I am pretty good at it.

You assured me time and time again that you could never picture anyone else doing it and in my heart I knew that to be truth.... true to form, I was the only one unsure of myself. As I hopped out of the car to head to your getting ready room I couldn't help it- I was nervous. Like really nervous. Silly Meg.

As soon as I walked through the door I was instantly comfortable. When I heard your mom's voice saying something about how I am your sister and how she was so glad I was there finally .. tears welled up in my eyes. Hayley, little Hayley, looking as beautiful as ever ... your dress hanging up, shoes on the counter....and you. You all dolled up and full of smiles, excitement literally oozing out of your skin. In one second, I was immediately reminded that this is my best friends wedding! And I have the complete honor of being the one to document it. Being nervous or worried or whatever it was that I was seemed like forever ago in an instant and the only thing that followed it was joy.

I am so happy that you have found someone who completes your picture and fits perfectly into your life. Brian is perfect for you in so many ways and I am so excited that he's on this crazy path with you! What the future will bring and where the universe will lead us has always been a big topic of conversation for us ... a fascinating mystery of intersecting paths and circling orbits ... I am excited to have seen your path answer this unknown so perfectly and honored to have been there to document it.

You just never know what can happen in a year.

Brian- welcome to our orbit!

I love you both so much and hope these photos do your memories justice.

Yours,

Meg

SF City Hall Elopement : Jason & Mandy

Sweet simple love is my favorite kind of love. When I asked Mandy and Jason why they chose San Francisco for their elopement they looked at each other and smiled, "We had never been here!" These two, and a handful of their friends, embarked on a cross country journey to celebrate their love and share an experience and it couldn't have been more lovely. San Francisco City Hall is just so breath-taking ... if you are going the city hall route (which I *love* ! ) - this is definitely the place to be! They were able to get married in the rotunda area and spend lots of time roaming the building taking pictures afterwards... it was a really fun and inspiring morning and I was honored to have been there to share it with them!

San Jose Wedding Photographer : A wedding at The Fairmont Hotel : Melody and Steve

Shoving off tomorrow for my bi-yearly rejuvenation trip with some of my very favorite women, Traveling Heart Society. We started out as a bunch of women just looking for a little companionship and camaraderie in this crazy photography world and over the years have grown into true friendships that will last forever! I'll be on and off email this week so forgive me if my responses are slower than normal.

Melody and Steve tied the knot last summer at The Fairmont in downtown San Jose and were such a joy to work with. Coordinated by Irene Ibidapo, despite the crazy jazz festival going on outside, this day went off without a hitch! Jessica at Love Spun whipped up some amazing video footage and Amy from Amy Burke Designs designed some gorgeous orchid arrangements for both the ceremony and the beautiful ballroom. I'm not gonna lie .... it was nice to shoot so close to home! Only about a 10 minute commute :)

Onward!