Audra & Charlie : A wedding at Cinnabar Hills Golf Course

Oh time off, I forgot what you felt like! Tim's older brother Joe and his wife (and one of my new sisters!) Charna, were in town this weekend to head to Napa and taste wine and eat food and it just so happened that Tim and I were headed up there to visit my Uncle Charles who will be playing the role as officiant in our wedding to plan our ceremony- so we got to spend three lovely days with family, drinking and eating, and being merry! Long winded enough? It's enough to just say it was a great weekend!

Me, croquet, and love.

A couple of weeks ago Audra and Charlie tied the knot at the Cinnabar Hills Golf Course - I have know Audra since I was a baby- her mom and my mom went to high school together and I seriously can't imagine anyone else photographing her big day! Editing her images was rough- I kept tearing up... I think it just felt close to home.. seeing Audra as a bride made me realize that I'm going to be a bride! She is so freaking gorgeous and the both of them were such a joy to photograph.

Since moving up here last December I've photographed at only a handful of northern California venues but I was so surprised by the beauty of Cinnabar. I have to be honest, sometimes golf courses can be a challenge- ya know.... gazebos and manicured lawn isn't all its cut out to be - but Cinnabar has so many beautiful spots for lovely image making. :) Enough chat- onward!

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I don't normally post family group shots but this one is near and dear to my heart :)

Jen & Matt : San Francisco Engagement Session : My wedding hair!

So I've been thinking a lot about how I want to wear my hair on the wedding day. Tim has one request- nothing shocking or costume-y and nothing unrecognizable. I'm planning on honoring these requests but I am also planning on looking glamorous! I do not want to look like myself on a Saturday night - I want to look like myself on a really really special Saturday night. We're going old-fashioned for a lot of things and I also want to make sure I feel that way from head to toe yet obviously still modern.

Here are some classic images I pulled for inspiration:

And here are some modern-day examples I think are similar ...

What do you guys think? Should I just get Blake Lively to stand in for me in my wedding photos? ;)

In other people's wedding news.... :) Jen and Matt are getting married at one of my favorite bay area venues - The Holly Farm in the fall and I was so excited to finally shoot their engagement session. It was a windy day in SF but we had so much fun running around the presidio and fort mason...Can't wait for the wedding!

Onward!

Megan and Kevin : A Wedding at Thomas Fogarty : Woodside, CA

I've photographed a lot of weddings this summer - and I'll admit, at times it has been a bit of a blur of brides, white dresses, flowers, ceremonies, toasts, cake, wine, champagne, bridesmaids, bouquets, ... but when I stop and think about each event individually it's easy to see that every wedding has a soul of it's own. No wedding is alike. It reminds me of that scene in Garden State where Natalie Portman says to Zach Braff : "I make a noise or I do something- that no one has ever done before. And then I can feel unique again even if it's only for like a second.....this could be your ONE CHANCE to do something totally original."

I often tell my brides at least once during the day to stop, look around, take a deep breath, and remember. Make an archived memory. I, of all people, know how fast a wedding can go- how quickly you get from getting the dress on to spinning around the dance floor in it. This moment, this group of people all together at this time, for this exact reason will never happen again- every wedding is unique and even though I have a handful of fall weddings I am already starting to look back on this summer and reflect on each and every love story I've been lucky to be a part of. Megan and Kevin's wedding at Thomas Fogarty in Woodside, CA is one I feel particularly blessed to have photographed as Megan has truly become a friend over the last couple of months. She drops by the house, we chat, catch up on the porch, share wedding planning tips, share wedding planning breakdowns, run into each other at Aqui's - I really feel like I've been right there with her during this whole process and am SO  happy with how her photos turned out that it literally makes me giddy inside!

Megan and Kevin 's wedding was recently featured on Style Me Pretty so be sure and check out their fabulous post there and if you're itching to see more check out their wedding slideshow here!

All their vendors are listed at the end of this post but I wanted to give a special shout out to Janece Shellooe and Amelia Thomas of Every Elegant Detail for a stellar job coordinating every last detail that Megan's heart desired!

Wedding Planner: Janece Shellooe and Amelia Thomas of Every Elegant Detail / Venue: Thomas Fogarty Winery / Floral: Amy Burke Designs / Paper Designs: Rachel Hanson Designs / Catering: Componere Fine Catering / Linens and Rentals: Hartmann Studio Rentals / Farm Tables and Bar: Zephyr Tents / Cinematography: James Burkart for Studio MSV / Cake and Desserts: Icing on the Cake / Hair: Alli Dunnam from Envy Salon / Makeup: Denise Azzarello from Envy Salon / French Band: Duo Gadjo via Peter Rudolfi / DJ: Henry Kim from Big Fun DJ / Wedding Dress: Lea Ann Belter / Shoes: Bagdley Mischka / Megans dress accessories and hair accessories: Ashley Maxwell Designs / Bridesmaids dresses: Butter by Nadia / Bridesmaids accessories: Ashley Maxwell Designs

Rose & Joe: A wedding at Four Seasons Santa Barbara

It's Monday!

Rose and Joe planned their wedding from Chicago and up until the wedding day, we'd only chatted via phone and e-mail! This is never my preference but between their schedules, my crazy schedule, and me moving up to the bay area last December we just couldn't coordinate a meeting! The minute I walked into Rose's getting ready suite at The Four Seasons Santa Barbara and saw her ear to ear smile I knew we were a perfect match. :) It was such a beautiful day filled with so many romantic details that helped tell their love story. Thanks to Kelsey Crews and Jasmine Star for helping me rock this one! (Seeing your wedding photographers images straight out of camera is pretty awesome- J*'s exposures were DEAD on and she has the most amazing eye- DUH! Can't WAIT for our wedding :) )

Modern Day Design did the florals and they were BREATH-TAKING! I mean... that pink bridesmaid bouquet is unlike anything I've ever seen. Absolutely perfect.

Rose and Joe had a group of their closest family members stand in a circle around them and pass their rings along a ribbon, each person putting their special blessing on the rings. I had my wide angle lens on so Miss Jasmine captured this perfect shot of the ring in motion.

We didn't have as much time I usually like to have for bridal portraits so Jasmine and I were booking it working as fast as we could. I was getting the view on the left and J* was capturing the one on the right as I set up the next shot. Team-work is key on these kinds of days!

Yelena Johnson of The Stylish Soiree (my wedding planner!) helped Rose and Joe coordinate their big day and everything went off without a hitch.

Carolyn & Andrew : A wedding at La Rinconada, Los Gatos

{ Happy Friday my loves! }

Tim is leaving on a jet-plane this afternoon and heading for Los Angeles for a little, "Tim-time" so I am holding the fort down with Stella and Stanley this weekend. This is my 2nd Saturday off since March and I plan on enjoying it with lots of wedding crafting and Teen Mom watching (so sue me- I can't get enough of Farrah and Maci's little Bentley! ;) ) ! So I'm sending you folks into a weekend of rest & relaxation with a beautiful wedding in Los Gatos at La Rinconada from last month. Carolyn and Andrew are so full of love and it was wonderful to watch them wed surrounded by so many people who love them so much!

Onward!