Rancho La Puerta Photo Shoot!

Off to Rancho La Puerta again! Rancho La Puerta is  is a health and wellness spa located just south of San Diego, nestled on 3,000 acres in Tecate, Mexico. It was founded in the ’40s by a health-conscious couple and has grown into a lovely, healthy getaway. It was voted two years in a row as “best destination spa in the world” by Travel and Leisure magazine readers. I'm one of the lucky photographers who gets to go down a couple of times a year to shoot for their marketing materials and website and I'm off for a week Saturday, October 19th through Saturday the 26th. I will have limited access to e-mail and no access to voice mail while I'm away. I will try to answer e-mails as soon as I can!

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Rancho La Puerta 3
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Rancho La Puerto 1
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Rancho La Puerto 2
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Rancho La Puerto 3
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Rancho La Puerto 10
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Rancho La Puerta 17
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Rancho La Puerto 11

Atwood Ranch Hosts ISES Industry Event

Yowsa! Julie Atwood of Julie Atwood Events and the folks at ISES really know how to throw party! Julie Atwood, already a talented stylist, worked with Meredith Law of M. Design on flowers and La Tavola Linen to create the feel of this lovely garden and barn event. Back to Earth Catering prepared such yummy food, including roasted harvest veggies and beef shank. YUM! Atwood ranch is a glorious Sonoma valley wedding planner that organizes events at elite wineries and estates in Sonoma Valley and the North Bay. ISES is a membership organization that provides training for event planners.

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Julie Atwood Events 1
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Julie Atwood Events 2
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Julie Atwood Events 3
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Julie Atwood Events 4
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Julie Atwood Events 5
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Julie Atwood Events 6
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Julie Atwood Events 10.5
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Julie Atwood Events 11.5
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Julie Atwood Events 19

Edible Excursions San Francisco Craft Cocktail Tour - Inaugural Event!

I was so excited that a former bride of mine asked me to photograph the inaugural Edible Excursions San Francisco Craft Cocktail Tour. Edible Excursions is an award-winning culinary tour company that offers foodies guided culinary walks through several areas of San Francisco. Lisa, the owner was in the infancy of her business when she got married and asked me to be her wedding photographer. I also photographed their firstborn, and I am so excited to have seen Lisa's business grow and to be a part of this newest venture in her business. We have some star mixologists in the Bay Area, and I'm so excited to see Lisa add this tour to her Edible Excursions options. These tours are not only great to go on, but they make great gifts or the perfect plan for a party idea!

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edible excursions 1
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edible excursions 9
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edible excursions 10

Laguna De Santa Rosa Foundation Weddings! A Sneak Peek From Our Styled Promo Shoot!

So excited to be asked by the very talented Julie Atwood to shoot at

Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation

, the largest freshwater wetlands complex on the northern California coast. The foundation is hoping to market to couples interested in a ranch feeling wedding in Sonoma, but who would love to contribute also to the preserve. Julie Atwood of Atwood Ranch and

Julie Atwood Events

is spearheading the promotion and styled our shoot. She's so talented! Here are a few teasers from our shoot. There's a whole third day (including more vendors) and so many more gorgeous images from this shoot. Can't wait to share more!

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Vendors involved in this shoot included:

Styling: Julie Atwood of

Julie Atwood Events

Floral Design:

Maria Philbin Floral Designs

Linen Rentals:

La Tavola Fine Linen Rental

Rentals:

Classic Party Rentals

How to host an outdoor Greek Orthodox ceremony

Since Andra and Christopher's gorgeous wedding, I've often been asked how other brides can host an outdoor Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony. And who better to answer that question that Andra herself? I reached out to her on behalf of my other brides, and here is what she said: Brides need a "special dispensation through the Archbishop," according to Andra, to have a ceremony outside of the church. In her case, Andra had a grandfather who would have difficulty traveling between multiple venues -- and so, her priest made the dispensation request on the behalf of the couple. "I am not sure how easy it is to get and if it would be granted in situations where there is no pressing health need," she says, but it doesn't hurt to ask! And just for fun, here are a few shots from their outdoor ceremony! You can check out their full wedding post here, too!

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Greek Orthodox wedding 6
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Greek Orthodox wedding 7
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Greek Orthodox wedding 5

Rancho La Puerta Photos

I'm lucky enough to be heading to Rancho La Puerta about every six months now to shoot photography to help them re-build their photography library. Rancho La Puerta is a health and wellness spa located just south of San Diego, nestled on 3,000 acres in Tecate, Mexico. It was founded in the ’40s by a health-conscious couple and has grown into a lovely, healthy getaway. It was voted two years in a row as “best destination spa in the world” by Travel and Leisure magazine readers. It's become one of my favorite places on earth, and I would highly recommend going to rewind and re-energize! If you go, let them know I sent you! I get a little prize! Everyone loves prizes! This last assignment was hiking. The mountains were gorgeously green like I've never seen them and the mountain lilac was in full bloom. I actually burst into "The Hills are Alive" from the Sound of Music during one of the hikes! This was a short visit for me (usually I stay for a week) so not too much to share, but gorgeous none-the-less! Hope these photos inspire you to go to Rancho La Puerta!

Lost Trail Lodge - A Sierra Christmas!

It started out a dream come true! My husband and I planned what we hoped to be a snowy Christmas trip to the Sierras and as the date drew near, we were worried we wouldn't have enough snow to snowshoe in the four miles to the back-country Lost Trail Lodge outside of Donner Lake. Be careful what you wish for! The Tahoe area got an almost record-breaking 4-5 feet of snow the two days before we hiked in. Wow! What we didn't realize was that 1/2 of the trail would not be groomed (about two of the four miles). Oh my! The hike started out lovely with a groomed trail and plenty of sunshine, but soon grew really hairy as my husband blazed a trail through four feet of fresh powder. It took us 6 1/2 hours with full backpacks and lots of worry (not a clear trail and it got dark and cold!) to hike in, but the lodge was absolutely picture perfect for a white Christmas. We joked the whole time that if someone asked a set designer to design the perfect back-country lodge at Christmas, this would be IT! Wonderful! It started out so easy and sunny:

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Lost Rail Lodge 2
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Lost Rail Lodge 3
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Lost Rail Lodge 4
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Lost Rail Lodge 5
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Lost Rail Lodge 6
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Lost Rail Lodge 7
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Lost Rail Lodge 8

Have you checked out WedSpring?

I've been working on putting together images for a new venture in San Francisco called WedSpring,  a concierge-style service that connects engaged couples with some of the area's best wedding vendors! They have a multimedia wedding resource library and design studio in the city -- so if you're in the neighborhood, you should definitely check it out! It's been a lot of fun looking back at some of my favorite images, which you will be able to view at WedSpring when it opens later this month! In the meantime, you can check out some of the upcoming wedding events in our area on their blog!

WedSpring Collage
WedSpring Collage